Ahmed Douma arrested from home overnight

Police arrested activist and writer Ahmed Douma from his home in the early hours of this morning, lawyer Nabih al-Genady told Mada Masr.

Genady said he learned of the arrest from Douma’s brother and is now heading to the Supreme State Security Prosecution in New Cairo to determine whether Douma will be presented to authorities there.

As of publication, there was no information about Douma’s whereabouts or the charges against him.

Several days ago, Douma posted an AI-generated video in which political detainee Mohamed Adel was shown describing the conditions of his detention at 10th of Ramadan prison and his continued imprisonment despite having served his full term. Douma noted in the post that the video had been created using AI.

The Interior Ministry rejected the claims the following day,citing the video’s use of AI as “an attempt to distort the facts and create confusion,” and said legal proceedings are underway regarding the allegations.

Douma previously served ten years of a 15-year sentence following his prosecution in the 2011 Cabinet clashes case.

He was released under a presidential pardon in 2023, but has since been repeatedly summoned for questioning by the Supreme State Security Prosecution over posts on his Facebook page, most recently in September.

For each of the four summons, the prosecution ordered his release on bail totaling around LE130,000, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

Douma is also on Egypt’s travel ban list.