Sabry Anwar, El Badil
Medium:Internet, Print
Charge:No charge
Imprisoned:February 21, 2016

Sabry Anwar, correspondent for independent newspaper El Badil, was arrested at his home by security forces on February 21, 2016. Anwar's whereabouts were unknown for four days until his wife Heba al-Khedry was able to meet with him briefly at a nearby police station, al-Khedry told CPJ in March.

Anwar told her that he had been subjected to torture by electric shock on four separate occasions and that security officers had pressured him to confess to crimes he did not commit. Police officers told al-Khedry and Anwar's lawyers that they had no record of his arrest. They were not able to see him again.

The Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate and local press freedom groups filed complaints with the prosecutor general and the Ministry of Interior, requesting information about Anwar's location and expressing concern that he might have been subjected to torture, according to news reports.

On March 16, the Ministry of Interior replied to the complaints, saying that Anwar had been arrested on the basis of a warrant issued by Homeland Security prosecutors, according to state media. On April 19, Anwar appeared before prosecutors in the Mediterranean port city of Damietta, who ordered him detained for 15 days, according to Anwar's lawyer Ahmed Taha. Since then, he has appeared before prosecutors for renewal of his detention orders.

As of late 2016, Anwar's lawyers had not yet been permitted to see the case documents and had not learned of the charges against him. The journalist was being held in Gamasa prison.

Anwar had been a correspondent with El Badil for roughly one year, covering local news in Damietta, according to editor Karim Saeed, Anwar's supervisor at El Badil. Anwar wrote several pieces critical of local government in the weeks before his arrest, including a piece about negligence in public hospitals, as well as alleged government negligence in searching for survivors of a sunken fishing boat.

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