State Security Prosecution releases activist Ahmed Douma on LE20,000 bail

The Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered on Sunday night the release of Ahmed Douma on LE20,000 bail after the activist spent hours facing questioning on false news charges. Douma was released shortly afterward. 

He was summoned for questioning after he made statements on social media about a ship which was allegedly carrying weapons bound for Israel, and which was said to have docked in Alexandria’s port. The claims prompted an outcry and were circulated widely on social media, with the government later denying their veracity. 

During questioning, the prosecution accused Douma of “deliberately spreading false rumors and statements at home and abroad about the country’s internal situation, which would undermine the state’s prestige, disturb public peace and harm the national interest,” due to his post on the ship at Alexandria port and the passage of an Israeli ship through the Suez Canal, one of Douma’s lawyers told Mada Masr, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Douma told the prosecution that his tweets had comprised data he copied from statements of international governments, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories and ship tracking sites, noting that he had also reposted the response of the Transport Ministry, the lawyer said.

He had received an official summons on November 7 to appear before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in New Cairo today, to be questioned pending Case 5892/2024, without any indication of the type or content of the case, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said.

On November 1, Douma lodged a complaint to the technical office of the public prosecutor regarding the ship Kathrin after it docked in the Alexandria port, he said on Facebook, demanding an investigation into the claim it was loaded with explosive materials bound for Israel, as well as the ship’s seizure to prevent its cargo from being loaded onto any other vessel.

The file included demands for an investigation into those responsible for allowing the ship to dock in Alexandria, and the inclusion of Egyptian consulting office EMCO on the list of terrorist entities for its involvement in the incident. It also called for a ban on receiving any military shipments heading to the Israeli military or any company that supplies it with weapons or services.

Douma suggested in a Facebook post on November 8 that part of the ship’s cargo of explosives was likely purchased by the Military Production Ministry. 

He blamed the controversy on the lack of transparency, freedom of information and trust, as well as the deliberate imposition of secrecy on such a sensitive topic, in addition to the Public Prosecution’s neglecting to address the complaints submitted by activists, which led to misunderstanding that was exacerbated by the ship’s bad reputation and its certain connection to transporting weapons to the Occupation.