Egypt Re-Arrests Journalist Ismail Alexandrani Over Social Media Posts

Washington, D.C. — The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on Egyptian authorities to immediately release journalist Ismail Alexandrani, who has already spent years imprisoned for his reporting.

Alexandrani was arrested on September 24 at a checkpoint in Matrouh Governorate, northwestern Egypt, and later charged with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and rumors, and using a website to promote terrorist ideas. Authorities ordered him held for 15 days pending an investigation.

"The re-arrest of Ismail Alexandrani, who already spent seven years in prison for his journalism, underscores Egyptian authorities' continued misuse of the legal system to target the press," said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. "Recycling old charges highlights the ongoing pattern of repression against independent journalism in Egypt."

The freelance journalist previously served a seven-year sentence from 2015 to 2022, after a military court convicted him of obtaining and publishing military secrets, joining a banned group, and spreading false news abroad.

After his latest arrest, authorities presented Alexandrani with 17 Facebook posts as evidence. In one post, he criticised what has become known as Egypt's "rotation" system -- a practice that allows authorities to keep government critics in detention arbitrarily and for prolonged periods, even after they have completed the maximum pretrial detention or have served their sentences. Last month, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk urged Egypt to end the practice. In another post, he spoke out against the arrest of Sinai activist Saeed Atiq.

Alexandrani writes for several outlets, including the Cairo-based independent online news site Al-Manassa and Al-Safir Al-Arabi, a Lebanon-based independent media outlet. He also posts reporting and commentary on his Facebook page, which has more than 82,000 followers.

Egypt remains one of the world's top jailers of journalists, with 17 behind bars in CPJ's most recent annual prison census, published December 1, 2024.

CPJ's request for comment from the Public Prosecutor's Office on Alexandrani's case did not receive an immediate response.

Read the original article on CPJ.