Egyptian authorities should quash the conviction of prominent economist Abd al-Khaliq Farouk, who on October 2, 2025, was sentenced to five years in prison for articles and social media posts in violation of his free speech and due process rights, Human Rights Watch said today. An appeals court is scheduled to hear his case on December 25.
A misdemeanor court convicted Farouk of "disseminating false news" under the penal code for criticizing Egypt's economic policy and alleging government corruption. Egyptian authorities have violated Farouk's right to freedom of expression as well as his due process rights, including his right to a fair trial. He is currently being held under conditions that raise concerns for his health and he said he is being ill-treated.
"Prosecuting a prominent economist solely for his speech and analysis reflects the dangerous level of repression in Egypt today, casting economic research and intellectual debate as criminal acts," said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should immediately release Dr. Farouk, whose long imprisonment is just the latest case in which Egypt's government makes a mockery of free speech guarantees and due process rights."
Security forces raided Farouk's home in Cairo on October 20, 2024, arrested him, and confiscated his phone, laptop, and unpublished draft writings, his wife, Nagla Salama, told Human Rights Watch. They also confiscated her laptop and phone and have not returned them.
Two days before his arrest, Farouk published a Facebook post, "The Theft of the Century," compiling 40 of his articles about economic subjects including the military's encroachment into the civilian economy and its opaque business dealings. Human Rights Watch reviewed a selection of Farouk's posts and found that they criticize President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, other officials, and the Egyptian military.
While the authorities have previously detained Farouk several times for his writings, his wife said his current detention conditions at the 10th of Ramadan prison complex are "by far the worst." She said he is kept in near-total isolation, locked in his cell for 23 hours a day with two other prisoners. He is allowed one hour outside his cell, but in an enclosed space without sunlight and is denied meaningful contact with others.
Following Farouk's arrest, the Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated him about his writings stretching back several years, his wife and lawyer said. The authorities charged him under article 80(d) and article 102 bis of the penal code concerning "disseminating false statements," his lawyer, Nabih el-Genady said. Both articles have been used to criminalize peaceful speech, Human Rights Watch said.
Since his arrest, the authorities have held Farouk in pretrial detention without bail. Human Rights Watch has documented that Egyptian authorities since 2013 have imposed unjustified, prolonged pretrial detention to punish critics and stifle dissent. The authorities have conducted Farouq's pretrial detention renewal hearings remotely through a video system without bringing him physically before a judge. The remote hearings system widely used in recent years exacerbates abusive pretrial detention in violation of international law.
The Shorouk Misdemeanor Court, a first instance court for minor offenses, did not formally notify Farouk's lawyers of his initial court hearing on September 25 and denied them access to the approximately 500-page case file, his lawyer said. The court issued the five-year sentence at the second hearing without allowing for a meaningful defense. His wife said that Farouq only learned of the verdict on October 7, when she was visiting him.
The appeal has already raised due process concerns. His lawyers said that the appeals court allowed them to only briefly read the case file in court but did not permit them to make a copy for review.
The Egyptian authorities should immediately release Farouk and all other prisoners held for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, including Ismail Iskandarani, a researcher, and Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist, Human Rights Watch said.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both of which Egypt has ratified, guarantee everyone the right to freedom of expression, to a fair and public hearing, and to adequate time and resources to prepare a defense.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which authoritatively interprets the covenant, requires any limitations on free expression to be proportionate, stated in a precise manner, in a way to enable people to reasonably predict what constitutes a violation, and necessary to protect national security, public order, public health, or morals in a democratic society.
The committee has also stated that the right to a fair trial, including appeals, requires "access to documents and other evidence" including "all materials that the prosecution plans to offer in court against the accused or that are exculpatory."
"The prosecution of Dr. Farouk is just the latest case in which Egyptian authorities have sought to secure a brutally harsh sentence as punishment for those who criticize Sisi's government and its policies," Magdi said. "Such abuses not only strangle the space for freedom of expression in the country but deprive Egyptian society of the ability to contest the government's economic policies amid widespread poverty and economic crises."
