Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution on Tuesday ordered the release of 31 pretrial detainees, including journalist Mohamed “Oxygen,” authorities and rights groups said.
The decision did not initially disclose the names of those released. Later in the day, Journalists Syndicate head Khaled Elbalshy said Oxygen had been freed pending his place of residence.
Two months earlier, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights called for Oxygen’s release, criticizing his continued detention despite completing a four-year prison sentence on Jan. 3.
At the time, the group said a criminal court renewed his pretrial detention for 45 days “in his absence” in connection with Case No. 855 of 2020. It added that authorities failed to account for his 17 days of detention beyond his sentence and did not allow him to attend hearings via video conference or present a defense, describing this as a violation of fair trial standards.
The initiative also outlined what it described as a pattern of legal harassment against Oxygen since 2019, including enforced disappearance and repeated detention in new cases with similar charges to prevent his release, culminating in trials before exceptional emergency courts.
Lawyers and activists among those released
Lawyers and rights organizations said those freed also included lawyer Osama Elshashtawy, a former candidate for head of the Lawyers Syndicate. He had been detained after calling for a protest outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo in solidarity with an Egyptian lawyer who was assaulted in the kingdom.
The list also included five defendants in Case No. 952 of 2024 related to protests supporting Gaza: Abdel Rahman Reda, Mohannad Omar Nabil, Abdel Rahman Mahmoud Abdullah, Ahmed Haitham Ahmed and Mohamed Mahmoud Ezzat.
Four others were members of the presidential campaign of opposition politician Ahmed Tantawy, detained in Case No. 2124 of 2023: Moamen Taher Farid, Ahmed Atef, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed and Sayed Mohamed Khodeir.
Three additional detainees in Case No. 281 of 2024 were also released: Mostafa Saeed Mohamed, Mahmoud Farag Sayed Ahmed and Adham Nasr El-Din.
Periodic review policy
In a statement on Wednesday, the Public Prosecution said the releases followed directives from Prosecutor General Mohamed Shawky to conduct periodic reviews of the legal status of pretrial detainees.
The prosecution said the decision reflects its commitment to “achieving balanced justice, safeguarding rights and freedoms, and ensuring proper legal procedures so that no defendant remains in pretrial detention without legal justification.”
