A Cairo criminal court on Monday postponed the first trial session of Egyptian cartoonist and translator Ashraf Omar to allow the defense to review case files, his lawyer said, following months of pretrial detention that have sparked international condemnation.
The Second Circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court, convened within the Badr Prison complex, adjourned the proceedings for Omar and 11 other co-defendants.
Omar, a prominent cartoonist for the independent news outlet Al Manassa, was referred to trial in November 2024 under Case No. 11846 of 2025 (Fifth Settlement), nearly 16 months after security forces snatched him from his home on July 22, 2024.
The session was marked by a tense standoff between the judiciary and the security apparatus. Defense attorney Nabeh Elganadi told Al Manassa that while the presiding judge granted Omar’s family permission to attend the hearing, security officials stationed at the prison gates refused them entry.
“When we returned to the judge to report that security had denied them access, he told us: ‘I gave you the permit; you deal with the security yourself,’” Elganadi said, highlighting the recurring erosion of judicial oversight within Egypt’s detention centers.
Omar, who is also a translator and guitarist, appeared in person alongside a female co-defendant. However, security forces failed to produce two other high-profile defendants in the case—journalists Yasser Abu El-Ela and Ramadan Gouida—resulting in their trial being held in absentia despite their being in state custody.
During the session, the prosecution read out a list of charges, including “funding a terrorist group” and “joining a terrorist group to achieve its objectives.” When questioned by the judge, Omar denied all allegations.
Rights lawyer Khaled Ali previously noted that the prosecution originally accused Omar of “using a website to promote ideas calling for terrorist acts” and “spreading false news to undermine state prestige.” While those specific counts were dropped in the final November referral, the more severe charge of “terrorist funding” was retained.
The case has become a lightning rod for criticism of the Egyptian state’s systematic silencing of independent voices. More than 800 writers, intellectuals, and artists have signed a solidarity statement describing Omar’s detention as a “dangerous indicator of the retreat of cultural freedom.”
“It is not uncommon in Egypt for journalists to disappear before reappearing in a courtroom a few days later as prisoners,” said Jonathan Dagher, head of the Middle East desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “These practices that terrorize journalists must stop… This type of method is not befitting a state of law.”
International watchdogs, including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), have joined 34 Egyptian and international NGOs in demanding Omar’s immediate release. Amnesty characterized the trial as an escalation of a “repressive campaign against the right to freedom of expression and independent media.”
