Egyptian authorities arrest economic commentator Abdel Khaleq Farouk

“The arrest of Abdel Khaleq Farouk shows once again how far the Egyptian government is willing to go to stifle reporting and commentary it disagrees with,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Egypt must let Farouk go without charges, release journalist Ahmed Bayoumi, arrested last month, and stop its newly intensified campaign of locking up the press.”

Farouk appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on October 21. an unnamed legal source told The New Arab that his arrest was likely prompted by a series of articles that he published on his Facebook account. These articles were critical of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s economic policies, particularly regarding the construction of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital and Sisi’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war. Farouk was previously arrested in October 2018 after publishing a book which questioned the government’s economic policies.

In a separate incident, journalist Ahmed Bayoumi of the independent media outlet Erem News was arrested September 16 and the circumstances of his arrest and whereabouts have not been disclosed. Bayoumi was previously arrested in December 2017 and charged with joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. He was held in detention for two years before being released in December 2019.     

On September 9, CPJ, alongside 34 other human rights and press freedom organizations, issued a joint statement condemning the recent arrests and enforced disappearances of four other Egyptian journalists—Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela—and called for their unconditional release. The four journalists remain in detention.     

CPJ’s email to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior requesting comment on Farouk and Bayoumi’s arrests did not receive an immediate response.