Seventeen Egyptian and international human rights organizations have denounced what they described as the Egyptian government’s campaign of “transnational repression” against exiled academic and researcher Taqadum Al-Khatib, who now lives in Germany.
Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Al-Khatib to trial in absentia on Oct. 22, alongside 167 others, in case No. 29 of 2025. According to his lawyer, Khaled Ali, Al-Khatib faces charges of joining a terrorist organization and taking part in a criminal conspiracy. Ali shared the case details on Facebook.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the rights groups said the case was heard Sunday before Egypt’s terrorism circuit at Badr Court. The hearing was postponed until Dec. 30 to allow witness testimony.
Al-Khatib, who holds a joint PhD from Freie Universität Berlin and Princeton University, has faced harassment since 2017, when he contributed to the analysis of historical documents related to the Tiran and Sanafir islands case—a legal challenge to Egypt’s transfer of the islands to Saudi Arabia. The rights groups say his research, which helped expose key facts, triggered retaliatory measures by Egyptian authorities, including the revocation of his doctoral scholarship, his dismissal from Damietta University, and an order to repay the grant.
Since then, Al-Khatib has reportedly faced obstacles in obtaining official documents from Egypt’s embassy in Berlin, including his passport and national ID, alongside restrictions that have hindered his professional life. Rights organizations describe these actions as an arbitrary deprivation of identity and nationality.
The statement described the prosecution as part of a wider pattern of repression targeting Egyptian dissidents abroad. It noted that several human rights defenders and activists in exile have been included in the case, suggesting a growing reach of Egypt’s security apparatus beyond its borders.
Among the defendants is Egyptian photojournalist Hamdi Al-Zaeem, detained for more than five years, which the groups said reflects a widening crackdown on independent voices inside and outside Egypt.
The signatories—including PEN America, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, People in Need, and El Nadim Center—called on Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against Al-Khatib and other dissidents and end the use of courts and security agencies for political retaliation.
They also urged an end to media smear campaigns targeting journalists, academics, and human rights defenders, and called for the removal of opposition figures from terrorism lists and the annulment of all related measures, including travel bans and asset freezes.
“These prosecutions mark a new phase in Egypt’s efforts to silence dissent,” the statement warned, “aimed at intimidating critics both at home and abroad, and entrenching a policy of cross-border repression.”
