Egypt Releases Three Journalists After Union-Led Campaign

06 January 2025 – Egypt – 

In a rare but welcome development, Egyptian authorities released three journalists in early January 2025 following an extensive campaign led by the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate (EJS) and supported by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The freed journalists—Abdul Qader Mubarak, Hussein Al-Qayim, and Hassan Al-Qabbani—had been imprisoned on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Mubarak and Al-Qayim were included in a presidential pardon issued on December 24, 2024, which covered 54 individuals from the Sinai region. Both were serving sentences handed down by military courts. The same day, journalist Hassan Al-Qabbani was acquitted by the Cairo Criminal Court of Appeal. He had been accused of “publishing fake news” and membership in a banned organization, charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the so-called “Rabaa Operations Room” case, which targeted critics of the 2013 military crackdown.

The releases came after sustained pressure from local and international media unions. The EJS had launched a series of advocacy efforts, public petitions, and legal interventions, backed by the IFJ and its global affiliates. Their campaign highlighted the deteriorating state of press freedom in Egypt, where dozens of journalists remain behind bars for their work.

Anthony Bellanger, Secretary-General of the IFJ, welcomed the releases but emphasized that 24 journalists are still imprisoned in Egypt, 15 of whom have been detained for more than two years. He called on the Egyptian government to release all remaining jailed journalists and end the criminalization of media work.

EJS freedom committee chair Mahmoud Kamel underscored that the three released journalists had been unjustly imprisoned for simply doing their jobs. He urged the state to cease using terrorism-related charges as a tool to silence critical voices.

While the release of Mubarak, Al-Qayim, and Al-Qabbani marks a small but significant victory for press freedom advocates, Egypt’s broader media landscape remains deeply repressive. Continued international pressure and domestic union solidarity are crucial to securing the release of the remaining detained journalists and reversing the climate of fear that has long gripped Egypt’s independent media.

Reference –

Egypt: Three journalists released from jail, after union campaign – IFJ