In keeping with the series in which the Egyptian government targets freedom of expression, Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist and translator, was detained by Egyptian authorities from his residence in the October Gardens neighborhood and taken to an undisclosed location.
Nada Mugheeth, Omar’s wife, said that when she tried to reach her husband in the morning, she discovered that his phone was turned off until 10 a.m. She then asked security personnel at the apartment complex for assistance in opening the door, and it was evident that Omar was not there. Later, she saw from watching a security camera that her husband had been taken away in a blindfold by security personnel who had arrived at the scene in two cars.
According to Mogheeth, the security personnel raided the house for approximately 40 minutes between 1:30 a.m. and 2:10 a.m., seizing Omar’s personal computer and a substantial quantity of cash.
Father-in-law of Ashraf Omar, writer Kamal Mogheeth, posted on Facebook that “we have all become hostages. At dawn, security personnel barge into the apartment of my son-in-law, Ashraf Omar Al-Jabakhanji, a pharmacist, cartoonist, and translator. They blindfold him and take 340,000 pounds, which are his wife’s and her car deposit, as well as his computer.”
“This is a report to everyone concerned, including the Attorney General, the Supreme Judicial Council, the National Center for Human Rights, and the Journalists Syndicate,” he continued.
Omar has been translating books and articles and creating caricatures for several years with several websites, such as “Al-Manassa” and “Mada Masr.” He has recently published several caricatures criticizing the government’s economic policy, though it is unclear why he was arrested or where he is being held.
The cartoonist Ashraf Omar’s arrest and enforced disappearance highlights the gravity of the threat to press freedom, journalists’ rights to free speech and information sharing, and the risk of escalation that certain regimes face in an effort to silence dissenting voices. As such, the international community and human rights organizations must pay attention to these cases and bring attention to the abuses that happen against journalists and activists.
