Retired journalist Tawfik Ghanem was arrested from his home in May 2021 and has been detained on terrorism charges, as authorities have questioned him about his past journalistic work.
Ghanem retired as the regional manager of Turkish news agency Anadolu in 2015, and before that he was the chief editor of regional news website Islam Online and contributed to local newspaper Al-Shorouq, according to one of Ghanem’s lawyers, who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. Ghanem covered local and regional political and cultural stories for those outlets.
On May 21, 2021, state security officers arrested Ghanem from his home in Giza, after raiding it and confiscating his laptop, according to a Facebook statement by Ghanem’s family, news reports, and the journalist’s lawyer.
Police interrogated Ghanem about his political views and his work with Anadolu and its methods of news gathering, and they were specifically interested in its coverage of Egyptian politics while Ghanem was its regional manager, according to the journalist’s lawyer. Ghanem has not worked in journalism since 2015, the lawyer said.
On May 26, 2021, the state prosecutor’s office charged Ghanem with membership of a terrorist group, according to Ghanem’s lawyer. As of late 2024, prosecutors had repeatedly renewed the journalist’s detention, and Ghanem had completed more than three and a half years in pretrial detention, exceeding the two-year legal limit for pretrial detention.
Ghanem is held in Badr 1 prison in Cairo, suffering from diabetes, an enlarged prostate, nerve inflammation, and knee and back issues. On July 9, 2024, Amnesty International issued an urgent call for his release and access to healthcare, as he has been denied adequate treatment. His family reports he has lost more than 40 pounds since his arrest and suffers from osteochondritis dissecans, a joint disease requiring physical therapy, which he cannot access in prison. He also has a skin condition but is often denied essential medications, including medical soap. Despite repeated requests, authorities have refused to transfer him to a hospital, even at his family’s expense, leaving him reliant on advice from imprisoned doctors.
The Ministry of Interior, which oversees the police, the prison system, and the prosecutor general’s office did not answer CPJ’s emails requesting comment on Ghanem in late 2024.