The New Cairo Summary Court has scheduled a June 3 verdict for political activist and poet Ahmed Douma in Case No. 2449 of 2026. Douma is charged with “publishing and broadcasting false news at home and abroad intended to disturb public peace, spread terror among the people, and harm the public interest.”
Douma’s case has renewed scrutiny of Egypt’s use of false news charges against dissidents and rights defenders, while putting prison conditions back before the courts less than a year after he was released by presidential pardon. The June 3 verdict will test whether criticism of detention practices is treated as protected expression or grounds for renewed imprisonment.
The court heard closing arguments from the defense team, which included lawyer Hoda Nasrallah from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), during its second session on Wednesday. Following the session, the court reserved the case for judgment while ordering Douma’s continued pretrial detention, according to an EIPR statement.
The charges stem from a social media post and an article Douma published in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed titled “From the prison inside the state to the state inside the prison,” in which he described the use of continuous bright lighting at Badr 1 Prison as a form of sleep deprivation targeting detainees. The Supreme State Security Prosecution referred him to trial on April 27 as a result.
During Wednesday’s session, Douma addressed the court directly, calling on the Public Prosecution to inspect his current cell at 10th of Ramadan 4 Prison, where he said the same continuous bright lighting is being used as “torture” to deprive detainees of sleep.
His defense team echoed the request, calling for judicial visits to both prisons and the review of surveillance footage from his former cell at Badr 1 Prison between October 2022 and August 2023, and from 10th of Ramadan 4 Prison from his arrival there on April 7 to the present.
The court rejected the defense’s request to hear testimony from several prominent figures currently or previously held in the same facilities, including Strong Egypt Party head Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, lawyers Ahmed Abu Baraka and Essam Sultan, former MP Ziad El-Elaimy, and political opponent Ahmed Tantawy. Journalist Syndicate board member Eman Ouf, who was present to testify as an expert witness on the distinction between opinion pieces and news reporting, was also denied a hearing. All were required to submit written statements instead.
Douma has been held in pretrial detention since April 6, when the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered his initial four-day detention following an interrogation session. The following day, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor condemned what she called the repeated legal targeting of Douma and demanded an immediate end to the “harassment.” EIPR simultaneously called on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to intervene for his release and to review the prosecution’s repeated use of “spreading false news” charges against journalists, rights defenders, and politicians.
EIPR sees acquittal as the only logical outcome, contending that the charges under Articles 80(d) and 102(bis) of the Penal Code are unconstitutional and that the legal elements of the alleged crime have not been met. The group further argues that any conviction would violate Article 71 of the Egyptian Constitution, which prohibits custodial sentences for offenses committed through publication or public expression. “All Douma did was exercise his constitutional right to freedom of expression and advocate for the rights of detainees,” its statement said.
Douma was released in August 2023 under a presidential pardon after serving ten years of a 15-year sentence related to the “Cabinet Clashes” case, making his current prosecution his second major encounter with Egyptian courts over expression-related charges.
