Egypt: Poet Ahmed Douma detained for writing an article
Photo credit: Sara Rifky / Courtesy of Ahmed Douma
‘The imprisonment of writers and poets for their writings is a stark illustration of the fragility of autocratic regimes, and their inability to tolerate challenging ideas and opinions. No author should face threats or detention because of their peaceful expression. The Egyptian government must immediately end its relentless persecution of Ahmed Douma and cease all efforts to silence him through acts of intimidation’. Burhan Sonmez, President of PEN International.
8 April 2026: PEN International strongly condemns the pre-trial detention of Egyptian poet and prominent activist Ahmed Douma because of his writings. The organisation considers Douma’s detention to be arbitrary and a grave assault on freedom of expression in the country, and demands his immediate and unconditional release. We reiterate our call for all charges against Ahmed Douma to be dropped, for his travel ban to be lifted, and for the return of all his personal belongings, including his writings, without delay.
On Monday, 6 April 2026, Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) ordered the pre-trial detention of Egyptian poet and activist Ahmed Douma on bogus charges, including ‘disseminating false news inside and outside the country to undermine national security’. On 2 April, Douma announced that his family had received a summons order on his behalf for an investigation on 6 April, without providing details on the case. The SSSP questioned Douma about his social media commentary and an article he wrote for Al-Araby Aljadid in March titled ‘From a Prison Inside the State to a State inside a Prison’, despite the website being blocked in Egypt. In the article, Douma argues against the increasing normalisation of imprisonment as a means to silence critical expression across the Middle East and the devastating societal impact this has across the region.
In January, Douma was interrogated by the SSSP on similar charges of ‘disseminating false news inside and outside the country’ in relation to his online posts about the alleged assault of imprisoned activist Mohamed Adel. Following a lengthy interrogation concerning his online commentary, the SSSP ordered his release on bail, set at EGP 100,000 (approximately USD 1,830).
Background
Despite receiving a presidential pardon in 2023 after being subjected to over a decade in prison, which was deemed arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), the Egyptian authorities have continued to intimidate and threaten Douma in an effort to silence him. PEN International has documented a series of intimidating tactics, threats, and physical attacks designed to silence him and discourage any challenge to the government’s narrative. He was repeatedly summoned for investigations and faced similar charges in six separate cases related to his writings since 2024.
Since President al-Sisi seized power in 2014, the country's human rights situation has continually deteriorated. However, since he decided to run for a second term in 2018, the country has slipped into an unprecedented human rights crisis. Egyptian authorities continue to systematically punish any public or perceived dissent and severely repress the rights to peaceful assembly, association and freedom of expression. Scores of journalists, human rights defenders, activists and bloggers have been arbitrarily arrested, detained for prolonged periods without trial, and faced trumped-up charges solely in relation to their work or critical views.
Note to editors:
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