Journalists’ Syndicate head Khaled Elbalshy has called on President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to issue a presidential pardon for two imprisoned journalists: Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan—widely known as Mohamed Oxygen—and Hussein Ali Ahmed Kareem.
The appeal follows Sisi’s directive for relevant bodies to review a clemency petition submitted by the National Council for Human Rights. That petition included several detainees whose families are seeking release on humanitarian grounds.
“This request is part of the president’s guidance to study the appeal submitted by the National Council for Human Rights for a group of convicts whose families are pleading for a second chance—for them to return to their families and rejoin society under normal conditions,” Elbalshy said in a statement Tuesday.
Mohamed 'Oxygen,' a journalist and blogger, was sentenced in Case No. 855 of 2020 alongside prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, accused of publishing false news and joining a terrorist group.
He was arrested on April 6, 2018, forcibly disappeared for 11 days, and then appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution. He later faced charges in Case No. 621 of 2018. Hussein Kareem was arrested on Nov. 18, 2020, and sentenced in Case No. 26 of 2021. Both journalists remain in detention.
Elbalshy also urged Prosecutor General Mohamed Shawky to review the cases of more than 19 journalists currently held in pretrial detention, including 14 whose detentions have exceeded two years—Egypt’s legal maximum.
The syndicate chief said he submitted a list of detainees’ names to the Prosecutor General’s office, the National Council for Human Rights, and Mahmoud Fawzy, Minister of Parliamentary and Political Affairs.
The Journalists’ Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee is scheduled to hold a meeting with the families of imprisoned journalists this coming Sunday to offer support, committee secretary Eman Ouf told Al Manassa.
Earlier this week, the syndicate convened a strategy session on media reforms. Participants demanded the passage of a freedom of information law, an end to prison terms in publishing cases, and the immediate release of detainees held on speech-related charges.
Among those still in custody is Al Manassa cartoonist Ashraf Omar, arrested from his home on July 22, 2024, by plainclothes security forces. Omar was blindfolded, handcuffed, and forcibly disappeared for two days before being brought before the State Security Prosecution, which ordered his detention after a six-hour interrogation.
He now faces charges of “publishing and broadcasting false news,” “misusing social media,” and “joining a group established in violation of the law.” Omar remains in pretrial detention.
