Egypt: NUJ joins IFJ in calling for the release of 22 imprisoned journalists
The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate has published the names of journalists detained in the country.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in urging the release of all jailed journalists in Egypt, many of whom are being held under extended pre-trial detention.
On 30 May, Khaled El-Balshy, president of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS), called on authorities to release the journalists. More than 15 of those detained have been held in pre-trial detention for over two years, with others for as long as seven years, thus exceeding the maximum legal limit.
He said:
“These cases are part of a broader pattern of imprisoning people for expressing their views”
Names of journalists detained in Egypt
Karim Ibrahim Sayed Ahmed since 14 April 2020, Mostafa Ahmed Abdelmohsen Hassan El-Khatib since 12 October 2019, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Ali Sebai since 28 February 2020, Badr Badr Mohamed Badr since 30 March 2017, Mahmoud Saad Kamel Diab since 6 September 2022, Hamdi Mokhtar Ali (Hamdi El-Zaem) since 5 January 2021, Tawfik Abdelwahid Ibrahim Ghanem since 21 May 2021, Mohamed Saeed Fahmy since 31 May 2018, Mohamed Abou El-Maati since August 2022, Donia Samir Fathy since 27 May 2022, Mostafa Mohamed Saad since 8 November 2019, Abdullah Samir Mohamed Ibrahim Mubarak since 22 September 2019, Medhat Ramadan Ali Barghouth since 28 May 2020, Ahmed Khaled Mohamed El-Toukhy since 19 June 2021, Ahmed Abou Zaid El-Tonoubi since 22 March 2021, Yasser Sayed Ahmed Abou El-Ala since 10 March 2024, Karim Ahmed Mohamed Omar (Karim El-Shaer) since 29 October 2023, Ramadan Gweida Shehata since 1 May 2024, Khaled Mamdouh Mohamed Ibrahim since 16 July 2024, Ashraf Omar Mohamed Sedky since 22 July 2024, Hussein Ali Ahmed Karim since 18 November 2020 and Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan (Oxygen) since 21 September 2019.
On 28 May, United Nations investigators found that the detention of British-Egyptian activist and writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah by Egyptian authorities is illegal. El-Fattah is being held in Cairo prison and his mother Laila Soueif is on hunger strike in the UK. On 22 May, Keir Starmer, UK prime minister pressed for the urgent release of El-Fattah during a phone call with Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt prime minister.
Anthony Bellanger, IFJ general secretary, said:
“Together with the EJS, we call for the immediate release of the 22 journalists jailed in Egypt. No journalist should ever be imprisoned for doing their job or expressing their views. We demand that the authorities uphold press freedom and guarantee the safety of journalists.”
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
