{"id":40871,"date":"2026-05-05T15:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/?p=40871"},"modified":"2026-05-05T20:15:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:15:04","slug":"aftes-newsletter-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/en\/advocacy-en\/2026\/05\/05\/40871-afteegypt.html","title":{"rendered":"AFTE’s\u00a0Newsletter: April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) shares with you the statements issued over the past month, along with legal updates on cases in which AFTE provides legal support to prisoners of conscience and to academics who have faced harassment and security-related prosecutions for expressing their opinions.<\/p>\n

We always welcome any inquiries or clarifications from everyone, through our social media platforms, or via the following email: info@afteegypt.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Advocacy<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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AFTE issued a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0calling on the\u00a0Public Prosecutor to release\u00a0journalist and TV presenter at MBC channels, Khaled Mamdouh, after he exceeded the maximum legal period of pretrial detention. The\u00a0Supreme State Security Prosecution announced his referral to criminal trial, but till now, the case file has not yet been transmitted to the competent Court of Appeal to assign a circuit and set a hearing date.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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AFTE\u00a0signed a\u00a0joint statement of solidarity<\/a>\u00a0with the poet and former political prisoner Ahmed Douma, following his summons for investigation before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, without clarifying the subject of the investigation or the nature of the charges.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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AFTE also\u00a0demanded the immediate release of Douma in a\u00a0joint statement<\/a>, after the prosecution decided to detain him for four days pending investigations in case No. 2449 of 2026, after he published an article entitled \u201cA prison within the state and a state within the prison\u201d on the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed website, and to drop all charges against him, close case No. 2449 of 2026, and end the travel ban imposed on him.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Legal Aid<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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During April, the trial of six prisoners of conscience, most notably prominent political activist Ahmed Douma and activist Marwa Arafa, was postponed, and the detention of nine others was renewed. The Administrative Court also reviewed several appeals filed by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) on behalf of its clients, including academics and union members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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– The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of activist Ahmed Douma<\/a> four times, then referred him to trial. The New Cairo Misdemeanor Court postponed the hearing to May 13.<\/p>\n

– The Criminal Court renewed the detention of Mohamed Mostafa Sayed Saleh<\/a> twice and released him later.<\/p>\n

– The trial of Ramy Darwish<\/a> was postponed to June 21 due to inclement weather.<\/p>\n

– The Administrative Court referred the appeal of Dr. Walid El Hamamsy<\/a>, lecturer in the English Department at the Faculty of Arts, against his suspension from work to the Disciplinary Court.<\/p>\n

– The Freedom of Thought and Expression Foundation submitted a petition to the Public Prosecutor requesting the release of Mostafa Ahmed Ramadan Tawfik<\/a>, who is suspected of having bladder cancer. The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed his detention for 15 days.<\/p>\n

– The detention of a merchant and a farmer<\/a> was renewed on charges of terrorism and spreading false news.<\/p>\n

– The detention of a citizen who supports former presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawi<\/a> was renewed despite him having already spent more than two years in pretrial detention.<\/p>\n

– The trial of a tuk-tuk driver<\/a> was postponed to June to continue hearing witness testimonies.<\/p>\n

– The trial of Al-Husseini Farghali<\/a> has been postponed until June in connection with a video he posted about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.<\/p>\n

– The Cairo Criminal Court has postponed the trial of Abdullah Saeed<\/a> until June 9.<\/p>\n

– The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of lawyer Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman<\/a> for 15 days in connection with Facebook posts.<\/p>\n

– The Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of pharmacist Sari Shaaban Mahmoud<\/a> twice, for 15 days each time, in connection with Facebook posts.<\/p>\n

– The Cairo Criminal Court postponed the hearing of Marwa Arafa’s<\/a> case until July 4.<\/p>\n

– State Security detained a member of the LGBTQ+ community<\/a> for 15 days.<\/p>\n

– After nearly six years in pretrial detention, the trial of photojournalist Karim Salem<\/a> was postponed until July 4.<\/p>\n

– A worker<\/a> was detained for 15 days in connection with Facebook posts.<\/p>\n

– The Criminal Court renewed the detention of Mahmoud Abu Saree<\/a> for 45 days, despite him exceeding the legal limit for pretrial detention.<\/p>\n

– The Supreme Administrative Court will hear the Ministry of Higher Education’s appeal against the court ruling promoting Dr. Manar Tantawi<\/a> on May 16.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) shares with you the statements issued over the past month, along with legal updates on cases in which AFTE provides legal support to prisoners of conscience and to academics who have faced harassment and security-related prosecutions for expressing their opinions. We always welcome any inquiries or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":40872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[979,982],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy-en","category-monthly-newsletter-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAFTE's\u00a0Newsletter: April 2026 - Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/en\/advocacy-en\/2026\/05\/05\/40871-afteegypt.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFTE's\u00a0Newsletter: April 2026 - Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) shares with you the statements issued over the past month, along with legal updates on cases in which AFTE provides legal support to prisoners of conscience and to academics who have faced harassment and security-related prosecutions for expressing their opinions. 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