Egypt’s Interior Ministry allowed journalist Mohamed Saad Khattab, held in pretrial detention for 30 months, to leave prison for a few hours on Sunday to attend his daughter’s wedding, responding to requests by his family and lawyer.
Ahmed Qenawy, Khattab’s lawyer, told Al Manassa that the process began with a social media appeal. “I wrote a post on Facebook and said, folks, please release him. He has served, and exceeded, the pretrial detention period. Let him attend his daughter’s wedding.”
Qenawy said Khattab then submitted an official request from inside prison after signs of a response from the Prisons Authority, and the family and lawyer were informed of the decision three days before the wedding.
Khattab first went home to put on his suit, then headed to the wedding hall, with no noticeable security presence inside the event, Qenawy said.
The lawyer said he hoped this step would be followed by Khattab’s release, especially since, “he has not been referred to trial, and he has exceeded the pretrial detention period set out in the law.”
Under amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law, pretrial detention must not exceed four months in misdemeanors, 12 months in felonies, and 18 months if the sentence is life imprisonment or death. Defendants must be released once those limits expire, or if pretrial detention exceeds one-third of the maximum custodial sentence prescribed for the alleged offense.
Khattab surrounded by his wife and daughters, Feb. 8, 2026Speaking to Al Manassa from inside the wedding hall, Khattab said, “They treated me with the utmost courtesy. They told me it was the interior minister’s own wish, and they sent word to me through National Security officers. That’s a very good thing.”
On his feelings during the celebration, knowing he would return to prison, he said, “Those little moments were worth a lifetime. Two nice hours. I walked the bride in, handed her to her husband, and saw my kids and my friends. I hadn’t seen my granddaughter Farida for 30 months. I saw her today.”
On the case for which he is detained, Khattab said, “I didn’t do anything at all. It was a nonsense post, meaningless.”
Minutes before leaving the wedding, he told Al Manassa, “I’ve got about 20 minutes, then I’m going back to prison. It’ll be a bit hard for me to say goodbye to all these people.” He declined to discuss any details about his detention conditions during the wedding so as not to spoil his daughters’ joy. “I don’t want to bring them down.”
Khattab previously worked at several media outlets, including Al-Wafd, Al-Dustour, and Rose Al-Youssef. He also served for years as an editorial adviser at Sawt Al-Umma, but he stopped working in journalism seven years ago, according to the Darb website.
In August, Qenawy called for Khattab’s immediate release. He warned of a sharp deterioration in Khattab’s health, saying he has chronic illnesses and previously underwent heart surgeries.
In November, Khattab’s family sent a telegram to the public prosecutor’s office demanding his release due to the severe decline in his health and his exceeding the maximum pretrial detention period, according to a statement by the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.
The commission said at the time that Khattab was unable to attend the last two detention renewal sessions due to severe fatigue related to diabetes. It added that he has been detained since August 2023 and faces charges of “joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.”
