Washington, D.C., January 16, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns Egypt’s January 16 arrests of Nada Mougheeth, wife of imprisoned cartoonist Ashraf Omar, and journalist Ahmed Serag, who was detained after interviewing Mougheeth about Omar’s ongoing detention and alleged human rights violations surrounding his arrest.
Mougheeth and Serag appeared before Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on Thursday. While Mougheeth was released on a 5,000 Egyptian pound bail pending investigation after being accused of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news, the SSSP has yet to make a decision regarding Serag, according to independent media outlets Mada Masr and Al-Manassa.
“The arrest of Mougheeth and Serag marks a dangerous escalation by Egyptian authorities to silence anyone daring to expose their repression,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim MENA program coordinator. “Targeting the relatives of detained journalists and retaliating against those who report abuses follows a troubling pattern. These oppressive tactics must end immediately, and Serag, Mougheeth, and Ashraf Omar must be released without delay.”
Mougheeth, an Egyptian professor and translator, has been an outspoken advocate for her husband’s release, relentlessly calling for justice amid his ongoing detention. In her interview with Serag, a reporter with Cairo-based independent outlet ZatMasr, she revealed that the security forces who detained Omar seized 350,000 Egyptian pounds, yet only reported a fraction of that amount in the official interrogation records.
Nada and Serag’s arrest followed a statement by Egypt’s Ministry of Interior, which denied claims made by a woman alleging that her husband was detained, and money and personal items were seized from his home without being documented in the arrest report. The ministry announced that legal action was being taken against those spreading these false allegations.
Egyptian authorities have previously targeted the wives of detained journalists for speaking out. In April 2024, journalist Yasser Abu Al-Ela’s wife, Naglaa Fathi, and her sister were forcibly disappeared for 13 days after filing multiple complaints about Abu Al-Ela’s disappearance. Both women were later charged with joining a terrorist organization and spreading false information on Facebook.
Omar, A cartoonist for Al-Manassa was arrested on July 22, 2024, and charged with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media. The SSSP also interrogated him about cartoons criticizing Egypt’s economic crisis and electricity shortages.
In 2024, Egypt ranked as the world’s sixth-worst country for press freedom, with 17 journalists imprisoned. Seven of these journalists were detained in 2024, as the country’s economic crisis triggered a new wave of arrests.
CPJ’s email to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior requesting comment on Serag and Mougheeth ’s arrests did not receive an immediate response.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
Committee to Protect Journalists | Radio Free (2025-01-16T21:57:30+00:00) Egypt arrests journalist, wife of jailed cartoonist after interview. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/01/16/egypt-arrests-journalist-wife-of-jailed-cartoonist-after-interview/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.