The undersigned organizations express their full solidarity with poet and former political prisoner Ahmed Douma, who is facing a series of unjustified “legal” prosecutions. Despite his release from prison in August 2023 following a presidential pardon for the remainder of his sentence, the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) continues to summon him for interrogation in multiple cases, all on charges of “spreading false news,” before releasing him each time on bail.
Douma is scheduled to appear today before the SSSP, after receiving new summons to be questioned in Case No. 2449 of 2026, without any clarification of the subject of the investigation or the nature of the accusations. This brings the total number of cases brought against Douma in less than two years to seven, including six by SSSP.
All previous interrogations of Douma have revolved around content he posted on his personal social media accounts, under the accusation of “spreading false news domestically and internationally in a manner that disturbs public order, spreads fear among people, and harms public interest.” This constitutes blatant disregard for the absence of any misleading information in Douma’s posts, which did not result in any ‘harm of public order.’ Douma was simply exercising his constitutional right to freedom of expression. He wrote about issues that concerned many citizens who have raised legitimate questions regarding public affairs—acting within their right to hold the government accountable and demand transparency and disclosure of facts. He also wrote about his firsthand experience during his prior detention. Instead of using Douma’s writings about his personal experience in prison as a basis upon which to charge him, the prosecutors should have treated them as complaints against violations of the law.
Ahmed Douma is unable to lead a normal life under the authorities’ incessant retaliatory harassment. In addition to being banned from travel, he struggles to secure permanent employment due to administrative obstruction preventing him from obtaining official documents. Furthermore, Douma has paid approximately 230,000 Egyptian pounds in bail to secure his release in the ongoing cases against him—an amount equivalent to more than two and a half years of a minimum wage salary. It should be noted that Douma’s case is not exceptional, as similar practices have been repeated against a number of human rights defenders and political activists who have been summoned by the SSSP on similar charges and then released on bail—as a form of indirect punishment and financial attrition.
The undersigned organizations condemn the continued targeting of Ahmed Douma and the repeated interrogation summons, despite having committed no crimes recognized under law. We call on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to drop all charges against Douma, close all cases in which he is accused without evidence, and allow him to travel, like any citizen who has not been convicted by courts. The organizations also urge the Public Prosecutor to take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the rule of law and judicial independence, stop the harassment of individuals for their opinions, and put an end to the repeated summons and investigations, which effectively strip the right to freedom of its substance.
- Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
- Egyptian Human Rights Forum
- Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
- Sinai Foundation for Human Rights
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation
- EgyptWide for Human Rights
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights
- Committee for Justice
- El Nadeem Center
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
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