17 January 2025
While Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar is still being held in prison, his wife Nada Mougheeth was arrested at her home on Thursday 16 January 2025 by men affirming to belong to the Egypt’s State Security Prosecution. Nada Mougbeeth has consistently pleaded for her husband’s release since his arrest on 22 July 2024.
Lawyer Khaled Ali announced the news on his social networks, stating that she was being held in pre-trial detention.
A month earlier, she had given an interview on the ZatMasr platform to journalist Ahmed Siraj, who was also arrested on Thursday 16 January. She revealed details of her husband’s arrest that were compromising for the authorities.
Lawyer Khaled Ali announced yesterday on the X platform that Nada Mougmheeth had been released on bail. She was charged by the Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) with ‘membership of a terrorist group’ and ‘spreading false news’. The journalist Ahmed Siraj, accused of the same offences, remains in pre-trial detention.
These two arrests followed a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior in which it denied the claims of ‘a woman that her husband had been detained, and that money and personal items had been seized from his home without this being recorded in the arrest report’. The Ministry has announced that legal action is being taken against those spreading these false allegations.
In the face of this escalation in repression, Cartooning for Peace condemns the judicial harassment of the cartoonist and those close to him, aimed at silencing any criticism of the policies pursued by the Egyptian authorities.
Sources:
– https://cpj.org/2025/01/egypt-arrests-journalist-wife-of-jailed-cartoonist-after-interview/
– https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-wife-detained-cartoonist-ashraf-omar-arrested-cairo
20 December 2024
The pre-trial detention of Egyptian press cartoonist Ashraf Omar was extended by 45 days on 10 December.
Arrested on 22 July 2024 and then held incommunicado before being transferred to prison, his detention was renewed for 15-day periods by videoconference until the authorised limit of 150 days of detention was reached. As this limit has been exceeded, his detention is now extended by periods of 45 days. This could mean up to 18 months from the date of his arrest.
Cartooning for peace is alarmed by the extension of his pre-trial detention and the absence of any guarantee of his rights to a fair trial.
PRESS RELEASE
30 October 2024
Gianluca Costantini (Italy)
Cairo, October 30th: Egyptian activist, cartoonist, and translator Ashraf Omar is spending his one-hundredth day in pre-trial detention, following the seventh consecutive extension to his period in custody since he was first arrested at his home on July 22nd. In the hours immediately after his arrest his whereabouts were unknown until he appeared in front of the Supreme State Security Prosecution two days later.
A contributor to the Al-Manassa independent news platform, Mr Omar stands accused of “joining a terrorist group while being aware of its purposes, disseminating and publishing rumours and false news and information, and abuse of social media”, with no presentation of evidence forthcoming. During a six-hour interrogation by the Supreme State Security Prosecution, he was asked whether his cartoons were intended to incite the public. In the days prior to his arrest Mr Omar’s cartoons had focused on the debt crises and electrical blackouts in Egypt.
It is further alleged that police beat Mr Omar at the time of his arrest and threatened him with electrocution. Contact with his friends and family has been limited, with a brief half-hour visit from his wife permitted once every month. He is held at the 10th of Ramadan Prison’s sixth facility. His period of pre-trial detention has been extended every fifteen days via video conference, in his absence and with no consultation between defence lawyer and client.
According to Human Rights Watch, such hearings were introduced by decree and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, however their continued use “exacerbates longstanding abusive pretrial detention practices and flagrant due process violations, and effectively contributes to covering up abusive detention conditions.”
Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN (the NGO established by the late Jamal Khashoggi) said: “Egypt’s continued imprisonment of Ashraf Omar merely because some thin-skinned regime official was offended by his cartoons about the country’s miserable economic conditions says all you need to know about freedom of expression in Egypt. Egyptian officials are relying on their dirty bag of tricks, like endlessly renewing his pre-trial detention, to shut down artists and writers in the country.”
Ashraf Omar is no different from any other editorial cartoonist, exercising his fundamental human right to freedom of expression and, as a member of the press, making criticisms of government in a form that is inherently non-violent and wholly legitimate. In their response to that criticism, the Egyptian authorities overstep their bounds when they harm Mr Omar’s person and neglect their obligation to protect his human rights.
In bracketing Ashraf Omar’s work with terrorism, physically mistreating him, and ignoring due process in an effort to silence him, Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution sends a chilling message to every cartoonist in the country, and indeed any outspoken critic of the state.
The undersigned organisations call for an end to the needlessly cruel and protracted detention of Ashraf Omar, the dismissal of the baseless criminal charges against him, and for his immediate release and safe return to family and friends.
9 September 2024
Rights organizations condemn spate of Egyptian journalist arrests, demand immediate release, accountability
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), along with 33 rights and press freedom organizations, condemns the recent arrests and enforced disappearance of four Egyptian journalists – Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela – and calls for their immediate release.
The undersigned also call on Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against the journalists, stop targeting them for their work, end the practice of concealing the status or location of those in custody, swiftly and transparently investigate allegations that at least two of the journalists were tortured or treated inhumanely, and hold those responsible to account.
The list of arrested journalists and the violations against them includes:
The arrest of the four journalists has sparked a wave of fear and trauma among Egyptian journalists that CPJ has interviewed, particularly those who had been detained previously or had worked with Arabic Post, where Mamdouh was employed. On August 21, journalist Moataz Wadnan, who was arrested in February 2018 while working as a reporter for Arabic Post — known as HuffPost Arabi at the time of his arrest — and released in July 2021, wrote on his Facebook account that he left Egypt “in search of safety and stability, fearing a repeat of the detention.” Since he left last month, the Egyptian security forces have raided his home twice, searching for him.
In addition to these four journalists, authorities are also holding 11 other journalists, many of whom have been in custody for longer than the two-year legal limit for pretrial detention. Furthermore, authorities are using various tactics to curtail press freedom in the country, including banning independent media websites, employing the law to legally harass journalists and media outlets, and targeting Egyptian journalists in exile and their family members in Egypt.
The signatories to this statement call on Egypt to comply with its constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press and prohibits custodial sanctions against publishers. In addition to releasing all imprisoned journalists and dropping false charges, the government must stop blocking news websites and refrain from targeting Egyptian journalists and their family members within the country and abroad.
This new spate of arrests highlights the shameful record of the Egyptian authorities in targeting journalists and independent media, underscoring why Egypt has remained among the top 10 jailers of journalists worldwide in recent years, according to CPJ data. The arrests also demonstrate how enforced disappearance and torture have become common practices by the Egyptian security forces against journalists and others. The Egyptian government must take the steps outlined above to end this recent resurgence of repression against journalists and their families and commit to ensuring a free and vibrant press throughout the country.
Signed:
1-ARTICLE 19
2-Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
3-Association of Canadian Cartoonists
4-Australian Cartoonists Association
5-Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
6-Cartoon Movement
7-Cartooning for Peace
8-Cartoonists Rights Network International
9-Committee for Justice
10-Committee to Protect Journalists
11-Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
12-Egyptian Front for Human Rights
13-Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
14-Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
15-Egyptian Observatory for Journalism and Media (EOJM)
16-EuroMed Rights
17-European Cartoon Award
18-Forum for Humor and the Law
19-Freedom Cartoonists Foundation
20-Freemuse
21-Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
22-HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
23-Human Rights First
24-IFEX
25-Index on Censorship
26-Khartoon Magazine (khartoonmag.com)
27-Law and democracy support foundation
28-Middle East Democracy Center
29-Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (PCO)
30-Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
31-Samir Kassir Foundation
32-The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
33-Toons Mag
34-World War 3 Illustrated
9 August 2024
Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar tortured in detention
According to the cartoonist’s wife, Nada Mugheeth, and lawyer Khaled Ali, Ashraf Omar was physically abused and tortured while in detention.
While official documents date his arrest to Wednesday 24 July, the cartoonist was taken from his home in the suburbs of Giza province on the night of Monday 22 July, before reappearing before the State Security Prosecutor’s Office on the evening of Wednesday 24 July, almost 60 hours later. It was during this enforced disappearance that he was allegedly subjected to violence and electric shock torture.
Human rights lawyer Nasser Amin and Mohamed Lotfy, Director of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, have called on the Prosecutor General, Mohamed Shawky, to open a transparent investigation into these allegations of torture and to submit Ashraf Omar to a forensic examination.
Accused of joining a terrorist group, publishing and disseminating fake news and inappropriate use of social media, Ashraf Omar was detained in custody until 5 August. Following a hearing held by videoconference on 4 August, his remand period was extended by 15 days. Ashraf Omar’s pre-trial detention period has been extended once again, for the ninth consecutive time.
Cartooning for Peace, very concerned by these statements, calls on the Egyptian authorities to ensure Ashraf Omar’s safety and demands his release.
This article was updated on 25 November 2024, following the umpteenth extension of Ashraf Omar’s pre-trial detention.
31 July 2024
Cartoonists’ and free expression organisations call for the release of Ashraf Omar, unjustly accused of misinformation & terrorist activity.
In the early hours of July 22nd, cartoonist and activist Ashraf Omar was taken from his Cairo home by plainclothes security forces. According to Al-Manassa, the independent news outlet that publishes Omar’s cartoons, local authorities denied any involvement in Omar’s disappearance in response to initial enquires by his lawyer and family members. Omar was forcibly disappeared for over 48 hours.
Egyptian authorities have now charged Omar with “joining a terrorist group while being aware of its purposes, disseminating and publishing rumours and false news and information, and abuse of social media.” Through his attorney, Omar denies these false allegations.
According to statements issued by Al-Manassa’s editorial staff, no evidence was presented during a “six-hour interrogation” by Supreme State Security Prosecution – during which no lawyer was present. Rather, Omar was asked “whether his cartoons were intended to incite the public.” Omar can be held in pre-trial detention until August 5th, though this can be extended at any time.
Cartoonists Rights, Cartooning for Peace, and Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) understand that this incident has had a chilling effect, leaving other cartoonists in Egypt worried for their own safety and unable to freely express their solidarity with Omar and their outrage over the arrest and detention of their colleague.
Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate declared July 29th a day of solidarity with Ashraf Omar.
We reject the charges levelled against Ashraf Omar, a conscientious cartoonist who is being targeted due to his exercise ofhis right to freedom of expression as a critic of the government in Egypt and call for his immediate release, and further declare our concern for and solidarity with all those affected by this incident.
23 July 2024
Kidnapping of Egyptian press cartoonist Ashraf Omar
We have learned from the press that Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar was taken away by men in plain clothes who arrested him at his home in Cairo on the night of Monday 22 July.
It’s his wife who gave the alert, relayed by the media Al-Manassa, for which Ashraf Omar works. While his current place of detention remains unknown, his employer has contacted the Journalists Syndicate to “learn his whereabouts, ensure his safety, represent him legally and prevent the authorities from oppressing journalists and acting outside the framework of the law”. The Al-Manassa media reports that the lawyer Mahienour El-Massry went to the police department, but that the latter denied the presence or detention of the cartoonist.
Cartooning for Peace and Cartoonists Rights are calling for Ashraf Omar’s safety to be guaranteed and join Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in calling for full clarification of what Ashraf Omar’s wife describes as a kidnapping, in the absence of any information from the authorities.
These events occurred in a country that is one of the world’s largest prisons for journalists, according to RSF, which points out that “censorship, searches, office closures, arrests, mock trials, forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions are the daily lot of journalists” in Egypt.
