Ayman Saqr, Almesryoon
Medium:Internet
Charge:Retaliatory
Imprisoned:November 28, 2014

Saqr, an editor for the news website Almesryoon, was arrested in the Mostorod neighborhood of Cairo while heading home after covering demonstrations in the Matareya neighborhood of the capital, according to his employer. The Salafi Front, a group of conservative Islamists, called for the nationwide demonstrations to protest the government's crackdown.

Almesryoon is a news website supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to CPJ's review of the website.

Saqr's lawyer told the Freedom and Justice News Gate,a news website affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, that the journalist was accused of "taking pictures of police equipment without permission" and "joining the Muslim Brotherhood," which the Egyptian government has declared to be a terrorist organization.

Fathy Magdi, editor-in-chief of Almesryoon, told the local press freedom group Journalists Against Torture that the website sent a letter to the prosecutor saying that Saqr was conducting journalistic work at the protest and had not been involved in the demonstration.

Cairo's fifth district prosecutor denied Saqr's appeal for release on December 1, 2014, and ordered his continued detention for 15 days pending investigation, according to news reports. Saqr is being held at Matareya police station. He had not been officially charged in late 2014.

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