The Supreme State Security Prosecution summoned Egyptian journalist Rasha Qandeel for questioning on Sunday in connection with Case No. 4169 of 2025, according to her lawyer Khaled Ali.
Ali wrote on Facebook that Qandeel received a formal summons at her residence today, Wednesday, requesting her presence at the Security Prosecution headquarters at the specified date and time. “Dr. Rasha Qandeel will attend the questioning accompanied by our office’s legal defense team,” he added.
Qandeel, a prominent media figure, described the summons as “the most honorable letter I've ever received” in a social media post. A source close to her confirmed that the letter did not contain any further details beyond the case number, in line with the usual opaque procedures of the state security apparatus.
The source added that, as with similar notices, the letter included no mention of specific charges or complaints.
Qandeel has faced an online backlash in recent days following the publication of a three-part investigative series on Sotour platform examining Egypt’s military procurement policies. The series, titled “The Egyptian Arsenal, explored the scope, rationale and intermediaries behind the country's arms purchases.”
The first article posed the question: Who is Egypt buying all this weaponry for? The second examined the concept of “deterrence,” while the third focused on arms brokers.
In a Facebook video responding to the criticism, Qandeel dismissed what she described as a “petty security campaign” against her. “Every word in those investigations was deliberate,” she said. “I stand by it all.”
Qandeel rejected accusations of insulting the military, stating that she has “never insulted the Egyptian army” in any journalistic investigation she has written. She cited her 25-year career and body of published work, available on her YouTube channel and Facebook page.
She drew a distinction between the military institution and its political leadership, saying, “My father and grandfather were both in the army. I respect the principled, patriotic army that remained so until it was exploited by political leadership starting with the Maspero massacre.”
“The Egyptian army doesn't deserve to be selling cheese, olives and sardines,” she added, asserting her belief that the military's core role should remain defense, not commerce.
Since the sentencing of her husband, opposition politician Ahmed Tantawy, to a year in prison with labor for distributing unauthorized election materials—a case widely known as the “popular endorsements case”—Qandeel has maintained a public campaign demanding justice.
At a recent press conference held at the headquarters of the Karama Party, she reiterated that neither she nor Tantawy would request a presidential pardon. “We are asking for justice, not clemency,” she said. “Ahmed's will was clear: even if he is recycled into another case, we will not ask for a medical or presidential pardon.”
Earlier this month, 11 human rights organizations called for Tantawy’s release by May 27 and for all charges against him to be dropped. The groups also condemned what they described as a pattern of retaliation against political opponents and their families, and renewed their demand for the release of all political detainees and prisoners of conscience.
