Egypt sentences detained journalist to 25 years; accused of threatening 2nd journalist
Washington, D.C., November 13, 2024—Egyptian authorities sentenced in absentia journalist Yasser Abu Al-Ela to 25 years in prison on Sunday, November 10, on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. Separately, press freedom advocate Rasha Azab accused the Interior Minister and the head of the National Security Agency of orchestrating recent threats against her and surveilling her movements, which culminated…
CPJ, others ask UN working group for update on Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 26 other press freedom and human rights organizations, sent a letter on November 12 to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking updates on the urgent appeal filed on November 14, 2023, concerning the imprisonment of Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The appeal, submitted by Abdelfattah and…
CPJ, 14 organizations urge UK to pause economic cooperation with Egypt until Alaa Abd el-Fattah is freed
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 14 human rights organizations in a November 1 letter urging U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy to suspend all economic and financial partnerships with Egypt until the country frees British writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was due for release on September 29 after completing a five-year prison sentence. Egyptian authorities have refused…
Egyptian authorities arrest economic commentator Abdel Khaleq Farouk
Washington, D.C., October 23, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately release economic commentator and analyst Abdel Khaleq Farouk, who was arrested October 20 on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false and inciting news for allegedly criticizing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s economic policies in more than 40 articles. “The arrest of…
CPJ, 58 others call for journalist Alaa Abdelfattah’s release at end of prison sentence
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 58 human rights organizations in a joint statement on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, calling for the release of Egyptian-British blogger and writer Alaa Abdelfattah on Sunday, September 29, at the conclusion of his five-year prison sentence, in accordance with Egyptian law. The statement also urged Egypt’s international partners to…
Egypt violates own law by adding 2 years to Alaa Abdelfattah’s prison term
Washington, D.C., September 24, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to release Alaa Abdelfattah, a prominent Egyptian-British blogger and writer, upon completion of his five-year prison sentence this Sunday, September 29. Abdelfattah was arrested on September 28, 2019, and in December 2021, he was sentenced to five years in prison, starting from…
CPJ and 34 other organizations condemn spate of Egyptian journalist arrests
On September 9, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 34 human rights and press freedom organizations released a joint statement condemning the recent arrests and enforced disappearance of four Egyptian journalists — Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela — and called for their immediate release. The statement also urged Egyptian authorities…
Egypt arrests 2 journalists in less than a week, refuses to disclose whereabouts
Washington, D.C., July 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist for the independent news outlet Al-Manassa, and Khaled Mamdouh, a reporter for news website Arabic Post. “By arresting journalists Khaled Mamdouh and Ashraf Omar and subjecting them to enforced disappearance, the Egyptian regime has once…
CPJ, others request update on Egyptian journalist Alaa Abdelfattah from UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 26 press freedom and human rights organizations in an April 17 letter to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking updates regarding the urgent appeal filed on November 14, 2023, about the case of jailed Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdelfattah. The appeal was submitted by 34 organizations, including…
CPJ joins letter on Alaa Abdelfattah to UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 33 other rights organizations, has signed on to the following letter in support of a submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) about the case of jailed Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdelfattah. Read more about Abdelfattah and other journalists imprisoned in Egypt here. 23 November…