Medhat Safwat
Sawfat, who has written critically about fundamentalist groups’ strict interpretation of Islam, has faced verbal abuse and intimidation after each piece he has written. He was also formally admonished… More
Kareem Amer
Known for the secular views expressed on his blog, Amer was sentenced to four years in prison for disparaging Islam and defaming the president in 2007. Upon his scheduled… More
Fatima Naoot
Long famous for her politically-charged poetry, Naoot was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 for defaming Islam in a Facebook post critical of the Eid al-Adha tradition… More
Abdul Rahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
Al-Qaradawi, along with 25 other defendants, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2017 for his comments made on social media and in interviews for allegedly “attempting to… More
Galal El-Behairy
Targeted for his lyrics in the protest song “Balaha” and a book of poetry entitled The Finest Women on Earth, El-Behairy was detained in March 2018. He was sentenced… More
Alaa Abd El Fattah
A pioneering activist and blogger, Abd El Fattah was first arrested in 2014 and served five years in prison until March 2019. He was re-arrested six months later and… More
Ahmed Naji
Charged with ‘violating public modesty’ for sexual content in his novel The Use of Life, Naji served 10 months in prison in 2016. After a prolonged legal battle during… More
Egyptian Writer Detained for Protesting Prison Conditions That Could Worsen COVID-19 Spread
The arrest of Ahdaf Soueif and her family is an egregious attack on free expression. More egregiously, it shows the Egyptian government’s reflexive response to the coronavirus pandemic is… More
Egyptian Institutions Ban Mahraganat Genre of Music and Threaten Legal Action Against Artists and Listeners
“New genres of music so often emerge as the voice of those who feel they have been neglected or left behind, and whose voices might otherwise not be heard… More
Egypt Raids Office of Independent Egyptian Journalists, Arrests Staff
"These reprehensible attacks are a clear attempt to silence what may be the last remaining bastion of independent reporting in Egypt." More
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