EIPR researcher released after 12 hours in custody, investigation in new case

Karim Ennarah, research director at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), was held in police custody in Alamein for over 12 hours while authorities investigated him on false news and other charges before finally allowing him to go free on Wednesday afternoon, EIPR Director Hossam Bahgat told Mada Masr. 

Ennarah has faced ongoing security restrictions from authorities that began with his arrest and detention in 2020.

Ennarah was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning outside the Alamein Hospital. 

He and a family member had been stopped at a checkpoint around midnight on Tuesday while traveling from the family’s North Coast home to the hospital, Bahgat told Mada Masr. 

Officers demanded to search their phones, but Ennarah firmly refused. They were eventually allowed to retrieve their phones and drive off. When they left the hospital, however, officers from the same checkpoint were waiting outside, where they arrested Ennarah and seized his phone.

For the next 12 hours, Ennarah’s phone remained switched off, while his family searched for him at nearby police stations, including the Marina and Alamein stations and the Hammam police post, all of which denied holding him, Bahgat said. 

Ennnarah was finally presented to the Supreme State Security Prosecution office in New Cairo at around 2:30 pm on Wednesday where EIPR lawyers — who had anticipated his possible transfer there — were present and attended his questioning.

Bahgat said the prosecution questioned Ennarah in relation to charges in a new case — Case 6952/2025— including “joining an incitement group, broadcasting false news and using a website to commit a crime.”

The prosecution ultimately released him requesting only a proof of residence. 

United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders Mary Lawlor expressed concern over reports of Ennarah’s arrest on Wednesday, calling for an end to the ongoing harassment of EIPR staff.

Three EIPR staffers, Ennarah, Gasser Abdel Razeq and Managing Director Mohamed Basheer, have previously faced harassment from authorities. They were simultaneously arrested on similar charges and detained for around a month in November 2020. 

Since then, Ennarah has been banned from travel and his assets have been frozen.

The new case file opened at the prosecution on Wednesday marks the fifth to be brought against EIPR and its staff, Bahgat told Mada Masr.