Egyptian police arrested Ahmed Aboul Fotouh, son of jailed opposition leader Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, on Wednesday while he was renewing his car license in the Qattameya traffic unit, according to human rights lawyer Khaled Ali.
Ali said the arrest was based on a 10-year prison sentence issued in absentia in the same case for which his father is currently serving a 15-year term. Ahmed was taken Thursday to the New Cairo prosecutor’s office to request a retrial.
The elder Aboul Fotouh, former head of the Strong Egypt Party, has been imprisoned since 2018 following public criticism of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his handling of the 2018 election and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis. He was convicted in October 2023 in Emergency State Security Case No. 1059/2021 on charges of “spreading false news that could harm national interests.”
Ahmed’s whereabouts remain unknown. His family and legal team have not been informed of his current location or detention site, Ali added.
Family lawyer Ahmed Aboul Ela Mady told Al Manassa that the arrest occurred during a routine security check tied to renewing Ahmed’s car license. When a match showed up in the Interior Ministry’s criminal database, officers detained him until National Security agents arrived and took him to an undisclosed location, Mady said.
“We knew a sentence had been handed down against him in the same case as his father,” Mady said. “But he was living normally and visiting his father in prison without any issues.”
Mady said the 10-year sentence stems from a National Security report alleging Ahmed’s affiliation with the banned Muslim Brotherhood — a charge, he emphasized, unsupported by any other evidence. Ahmed’s family had expected he would be released after signing the petition for a retrial, but as of publication time, he remains in custody.
In the original trial, a military court upheld the prison sentences for both Aboul Fotouh and his deputy, Mohamed Al-Qassas, in October 2023 after their appeals were rejected.
Since December 2024, Aboul Fotouh has faced new charges in a separate case (No. 786/2020), including “leading a terrorist group and financing terrorism.” During a hearing, he reportedly complained of deteriorating health, citing heart disease, stomach ulcers, prostate pain and a slipped disc, and said repeated requests to transfer him to a prison medical center were denied due to “overcrowding.”
