Egyptian security agents arrested poet and activist Ahmed Douma without a warrant from his Cairo home on January 19, 2026. National Security officers blindfolded and handcuffed him for nearly twelve hours before transporting him to National Security Agency premises for interrogation.
The following day, the Supreme State Security Prosecution charged him with "disseminating false news inside and outside the country" relating to his online posts about imprisoned activist Mohamed Adel. After interrogation, Douma was released on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately $2,120), though the case remains ongoing.
The charges stem from content Douma published about an alleged assault on Mohamed Adel at Tenth of Ramadan Prison. Multiple Egyptian human rights organizations documented that on January 10, 2026, Adel was subjected to physical assault and attempted strangulation by criminal inmates while security personnel watched for approximately three hours. Adel was on his 47th day of hunger strike at the time. Douma published an investigative article on Adel's detention conditions and created an AI-generated video depicting Adel's testimony about his treatment in prison.
A Presidential Pardon That Changed Nothing
Douma received a presidential pardon on August 18, 2023, after serving nearly a decade in prison. He had been convicted in 2015 alongside 268 other defendants in connection with the December 2011 Cabinet Office clashes and sentenced to 15 years. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion in 2015 finding his detention arbitrary, concluding it stemmed solely from his peaceful exercise of human rights and followed criminal proceedings that failed to meet fair trial standards.
Since his release in August 2023, PEN International has documented at least five separate cases opened against Douma on charges of disseminating false news. In April 2025, he was charged and released on 10,000 Egyptian pounds bail. In July 2025, the Supreme State Security Prosecution charged him again for commentaries on road traffic accidents, humanitarian aid fees to Gaza, and criticism of pro-government media figures, releasing him on 50,000 Egyptian pounds bail. In September 2025, another case was opened concerning his posts about experiences in Egyptian prisons, with bail set at another 50,000 Egyptian pounds.
In mid-December 2025, just weeks before his latest arrest, Douma reported being prevented from boarding a flight to Lebanon by security officials at Cairo International Airport. He said officials held him in an airport office for three hours, citing an undisclosed travel ban he was never formally notified about. The presidential pardon freed him from prison but left his conviction on record, providing authorities continued justification for surveillance, travel restrictions, and repeated prosecution for his writing.
Egyptian poet and activist Ahmed Douma was arrested without a warrant on January 19, 2026, the fifth time he's faced charges since receiving a presidential pardon in August 2023 after serving nearly a decade in prison.
Security agents charged him with "disseminating false news" for publishing content about the alleged assault of imprisoned activist Mohamed Adel at Tenth of Ramadan Prison. Multiple human rights organizations documented that Adel was subjected to physical assault and attempted strangulation while security personnel watched.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention previously found Douma's decade-long detention arbitrary, stating it stemmed solely from peaceful exercise of human rights. Yet since his 2023 release, authorities have opened repeated cases against him for his writing, requiring cumulative bail payments exceeding 230,000 Egyptian pounds.
In December 2025, weeks before this arrest, he was prevented from boarding a flight to Lebanon, held at Cairo airport for three hours over an undisclosed travel ban he says he was never formally notified about.
A presidential pardon freed Douma from prison but left his conviction intact, giving authorities continued grounds for surveillance, travel restrictions, and prosecution for his work documenting human rights violations.
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