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An Egyptian court has sentenced prominent activist and poet Ahmed Douma to one year of prison with labour for \u201cspreading fake news\u201d, according to state media Akhbar al-Youm.<\/p>\n
The sentence on Wednesday comes nearly three years after the former political prisoner was freed by a presidential pardon<\/span> in August 2023, after almost 10 years behind bars.<\/p>\n The charge of \u201cspreading fake news\u201d is regularly levelled against Egyptian dissidents, including activists, journalists and academics, as well as everyday social media users.<\/p>\n Douma was most recently arrested in April after publishing an article in the London-based pan-Arab news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Egypt\u2019s prison conditions.<\/p>\n Prior to his sentencing, Douma \u201chad been held in pretrial detention \u2026 under restrictive conditions, including receiving fewer visits than permitted under Egyptian prison regulations and being continuously exposed to intense light in his cell\u201d, according to Amnesty International.<\/p>\n Rights group the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said the article reflected his own experiences in prison, making imprisoning him on fake news charges \u201cunconstitutional\u201d.<\/p>\n Rights group PEN America called the sentence \u201cdisgraceful\u201d. \u201cHis case embodies part of an escalating crackdown on writers in Egypt, where poems and articles are routinely weaponised as courtroom evidence,\u201d said PEN\u2019s Asma Laouira.<\/p>\n Amnesty International condemned Douma\u2019s sentencing, saying it was an attack on the right to freedom of expression.<\/p>\n \u201cThe renewed unjust imprisonment after an unfair trial of Ahmed Douma is a devastating assault on the right to freedom of expression,\u201d said Mahmoud Shalaby, Amnesty International\u2019s regional researcher.<\/p>\n \u201cThe weaponization of the criminal justice system against Ahmed Douma and other activists lays bare President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi\u2019s government\u2019s relentless campaign to crush peaceful dissent and restrict civic space.\u201d<\/p>\n Shalaby also called on Egypt to \u201cimmediately and unconditionally release [Douma], quash this politically motivated sentence, and end their persistent misuse of the criminal judicial system against him\u201d.<\/p>\n A prominent figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak, Douma was first convicted of taking part in an unauthorised protest and assaulting police officers.<\/p>\n His initial 25-year sentence was later reduced to 15 years, before he received a presidential pardon. Since then, he has been repeatedly interrogated, charged and released on bail.<\/p>\n In 2022, President el\u2011Sisi revived a presidential pardon committee, which was billed as part of a broader human rights initiative that has released hundreds of political prisoners, including prominent British\u2011Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah<\/span>.<\/p>\n However, rights groups say a widening crackdown has seen more people detained than those released, and further restricted the space for dissent.<\/p>\n \u201c[Douma\u2019s] sentence exposes the hollow reality of the presidential pardons [that he] and others received in 2023 and signals that activists released from prolonged unjust detention are not safe from re-arrest,\u201d said Shalaby.<\/p>\n Egypt has also been criticised for a sweeping crackdown on online content creators that has seen young female influencers, comedians and commentators imprisoned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAssault on freedom of expression<\/h2>\n