Researcher Ismail Alexandrani's arrest was not the result of a routine checkpoint but a deliberate, preplanned operation, rights lawyers Khaled Ali and Mahienour El-Massry said.
On Wednesday, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered Alexandrani detained for 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 6469/2025, on charges of “spreading false news” and “joining a terrorist group.” He was stopped at a checkpoint in Marsa Matrouh while returning from Siwa.
“This was targeted,” El-Massry told Al Manassa, describing how security forces boarded Alexandrani’s bus and collected passengers’ IDs. “When they found Ismail’s ID, they took him and let the rest of the buses go.”
She said the arrest was based on a warrant Alexandrani was unaware of, a point confirmed by Khaled Ali in a Thursday Facebook post, stating that the order was issued by State Security prosecutors following a National Security Agency investigation.
El-Massry said the interrogation initially focused on 18 Facebook posts in which Alexandrani expressed opinions on public affairs. One post commented on the release of seven out of 40 fishermen from Kafr Megheizal in Kafr El-Sheikh, who had been detained since March 2020 on suspicion of smuggling weapons to western Libya.
“He explained that he was actually pleased about their release,” El-Massry said. “His critique was a call for the state to improve the situation, not an attack.”
She added that prosecutors also questioned Alexandrani about posts on gender and class dynamics, including one cautioning against “excessive celebration” of women’s appointments to the Public Prosecution, noting the class-based exclusion in such appointments. Alexandrani responded by saying his comments were academic and not aimed at specific individuals.
In a surprising twist, prosecutors confronted Alexandrani with a post in which he cautiously praised Egypt’s position toward the Syrian regime. According to El-Massry, he reiterated that this was “his personal view that Egypt's stance was positive.”
She said Alexandrani emphasized throughout that his posts were academic, objective critiques aimed at reform, not subversion. “He said he wants to preserve the state and its institutions,” El-Massry explained.
According to El-Massry, the prosecution’s case relied on boilerplate charges such as “contact with foreign entities”, a pattern seen in other political cases. She noted that prosecutors refused to share the investigative report with the defense, only reading its contents aloud.
“It’s baffling,” she added, “that the charge of ‘joining a terrorist group’ is being re-used, even though Alexandrani was acquitted of this in a previous case.”
El-Massry also expressed serious concern about Alexandrani’s health. “He suffers from sleep apnea and needs a CPAP machine to keep his airways open at night. He also has diabetes,” she told Al Manassa, adding that the CPAP device was confiscated in prison.
Khaled Ali also flagged health concerns. Speaking to Al Manassa, Ali revealed that Alexandrani’s medical file currently in the custody of the Prison Authority already documents his condition. Although the device was on his person at the prosecutor’s office, “the mask was withheld by National Security,” he said.
Ali told Al Manassa he was puzzled by the prosecution’s decision to detain Alexandrani. “He acknowledged that the Facebook page is his, and that he wrote the posts in question. So what’s the risk of tampering with evidence?”
Early Wednesday, Alexandrani had posted on Facebook, “They stopped me at the Matrouh checkpoint.” According to Ali, this was his last communication before his phone was turned off and contact was lost.
Twelve hours later, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights executive director Hossam Bahgat confirmed Alexandrani’s appearance at the State Security Prosecution, saying he had requested the presence of his lawyer.
Alexandrani is a political sociologist specializing in Sinai and the relationship between the state and armed Islamist groups. He has been a fellow at the Arab Reform Initiative since 2013.
In 2022, he was released from prison after serving a 7-year sentence in Case No. 18/2018, where he was convicted of “joining a banned group, disclosing defense secrets, and spreading false news about Sinai.”
Alexandrani was originally arrested on Nov. 29, 2015 at Hurghada Airport upon arrival from London, where he was preparing a master’s thesis on comparative religions. At the time, State Security accused him of joining a banned group and publishing false information about military operations in Sinai.
