Prominent Egyptian journalist detained by military prosecutors

Reporting from Cairo —  A prominent Egyptian journalist and rights advocate has been detained by military prosecutors and is facing charges of spreading false information to undermine national security, his lawyers said Sunday.

According to Karim Abdel Radhi, who works with the Arabian Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and is among a team of lawyers following the case, Hossam Bahgat was spending the night in detention awaiting formal charges, possibly on Monday.

His detention comes as some 18 other journalists are behind bars in Egypt on various similar charges, according to estimates by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

After receiving an official summons by Egypt’s military intelligence on Thursday, Bahgat spent seven hours in interrogation before being referred to the military prosecution, with no formal charges yet lodged against him, according to his editors at the news portal Madamasr.com. The summons did not allege any crimes, they said.

Bahgat wrote an investigative article for Madamasr.com last month revealing that 26 military officers had been sentenced to terms of up to life in prison by a military court in August for plotting to overthrow President Abdel Fattah Sisi.

Both Bahgat’s editors and lawyers say they believe he was arrested because of information in the article. The military prosecutor’s office has not commented on the case.

A winner of Human Rights Watch’s Alison Des Forges Award in 2011, Bahgat was the founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. He then resumed his journalism career with a series of investigative articles.

He also wrote on the trial and the death sentences given to six members of the Islamist terrorist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, reported that Egyptian taxpayers had been paying for former President Hosni Mubarak’s extravagant lifestyle, and that hundreds of jihadists were released from prison during the interim military rule that followed Mubarak’s ouster in 2011.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International condemned Bahgat’s arrest, calling it “a clear signal of the Egyptian authorities’ resolve to continue with their ferocious onslaught against independent journalism and civil society.”

“The arrest of Hossam Bahgat today is yet another nail in the coffin for freedom of expression in Egypt. He is being detained and questioned by the military prosecutor for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and must be immediately and unconditionally released. Any charges brought against him must be dropped,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.

Egyptian rights activists were similarly enraged by news of Bahgat’s detention.

“Bahgat is one of the most credible activists and journalists and ... it makes sense that people like him disturb a regime that prefers journalists who support it,” Gamal Eid of ANHRI tweeted on Sunday.

In October, armed members of the Egyptian security forces stormed the office of the Mada Foundation for Media Development and arrested Hisham Gaffar, who heads the foundation.

According to independent sources, thousands of civilians are referred and tried by Egyptian military courts, where they are stripped off many of the legal rights they are entitled to under regular courts.

Hassan is a special correspondent