Egypt: hostage-like arrests, retaliatory defamation charges and intimidation of journalists are recent tactics to quash freedom of expression ahead of the 2024 presidential election
Photo credits (left to right): Courtesy of Gamal Abdel Hamid’s family, Courtesy of Hossam El Hamalawy
31 August: PEN International strongly condemns the recent arrest of former publisher Hisham Kassem, Gamal Abdel Hamid, father of exiled journalist Ahmed Gamal Ziada, and the brief detention of fact-checking journalist Karim Assad. Their arbitrary arrest and detention represent yet another blow to already curtailed freedom of expression in Egypt and adds to the authorities’ fierce crackdown on critical voices ahead of next year’s presidential election.
PEN International calls for their immediate and unconditional release, for all charges against them to be dropped, and for the Egyptian authorities to end the crackdown on freedom of expression, including intimidating journalists and taking their family members hostage.
Over recent days, Egyptian authorities have embareked on a fierce crackdown on freedom of expression and freedom of the press, using defamation charges against opposition figures, arresting independent journalists because of their work, and taking family members of exiled journalists hostage in a bid to silence them. This comes amid preparations for the 2024 presidential elections, whose fairness Egyptian human rights groups have questioned due to the structural challenges and the climate of fear the president Al-Sisi administration is enforcing.
On 19 August, National Security officers arrested fact-checking journalist Karim Assad following a raid on his house, where he and his wife were assaulted and intimidated because of his journalistic work. Assad’s wife was assaulted and threatened to never to see her child again while Assad was beaten and intimidated for publishing a high-profile story unveiling the identities of Egyptian nationals involved in the recently uncovered Egypt-Zambia plane scandal. He was later taken to an unknown location and interrogated before being released the next day without further action. Before his release, the online platform he works for, Matsada2sh, reported a security breach on their social media accounts in which two stories on the Egypt-Zambia plane scandal were deleted.
On the same day Assad was arrested, the South Cairo prosecutor summoned former publisher and opposition figure, Hisham Kassem to hear his testimony in a case under investigation without further details. The next day, Kassem went to the prosecutor’s office to find himself facing charges of “harassment” and “misuse of social media” in relation to his critical views of a former minister and a member of the Presidential Pardon Committee, Kamal Abu Eita. The prosecutor set a bail of EGP 5,000, which Kassem refused to pay, indicating that the charges were politically motivated. On 21 August, the prosecutor brought additional charges against Kassem of “assaulting police officers with obscene words” while in custody. The prosecutor ordered his detention pending trial, and he was transferred to the Tenth of Ramadan’s prison. His first hearing was set for 2 September 2023.
Hisham Kassem is a former award-winning publisher of Al-Masry Al-Youm (The Egyptian Today), Egypt’s first independent daily newspaper, and the founder of the now-defunct Cairo Times magazine. He is also the chairperson of the board of trustees of al-Tayar al-Hurr (The Liberal Free Current), a liberal group recently formed in opposition to the government, and the former head of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, one of Egypt’s most prominent human rights organisations during the presidency of Hosni Mubarak. In recent months, Kassem has been particularly critical of President Al-Sisi and his handling of the country’s economic crisis, affirming that change cannot happen while he remains in power.
On 22 August, plain-clothed security officers arbitrarily arrested exiled journalist and human rights defender Ahmed Gamal Ziada’s father, Gamal Abdel Hamid (58), in Nahya El Balad, Giza governorate, and took him to an undisclosed location. According to Ziada, his father was heavily interrogated by National Security officers about his journalistic and human rights work and activism while blindfolded and handcuffed. Although Ziada’s father has no history of political activism or criticism of the authorities on social media, the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) ordered his pre-trial detention on charges of “spreading false news,” “misusing social media,” and “belonging to a banned group.” During the virtually held detention renewal session on 30 August, Ziada’s father told the prosecutor that he had done nothing wrong and he is being imprisoned to intimidate his son. He also told the lawyers to ask him not to return to Egypt. The prosecutor extended his pre-trial detention for a further 15 days. Since his arrest, Gamal Abdel Hamid has not been allowed to communicate with his family or see his lawyers.
Ahmed Gamal Ziada is an exiled journalist, human rights defender, and editor-in-chief of Zawia3 (Third Angle), a newly established independent news service that provides information on political and social issues in Egypt. Ziada was arrested and arbitrarily detained in 2013 while filming police violence against protesters at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He spent about 16 months in pre-trial detention, where he was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment before he was acquitted of all charges and released in April 2015. He was rearrested in January 2019 at Cairo International Airport and taken into incommunicado detention for 14 days before facing charges of “publishing and broadcasting fake news.” He was released on a EGP 10,000 bail in April 2019 and allowed to travel for studies in December 2019.
Since President al-Sisi seized power in 2014, the country's human rights situation has been deteriorating. 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.
For more information, please contact Mina Thabet, Head of the MENA Region, at: Mina.Thabet@pen-international.org
