Egyptian activist arrested two years after presidential pardon

Egyptian authorities arrested the prominent activist and poet Ahmed Douma early on Tuesday, his lawyer said, more than two years after he was released under a presidential pardon.

Douma "was arrested from home at dawn," Khaled Ali said in a post on Facebook. It was unclear why he had been detained.

A leading figure of the 2011 uprising that overthrew longtime president Hosni Mubarak, Douma was previously arrested and charged by the State Security Prosecution in September with "spreading fake news".

He was released at the time on bail of 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,040).

According to his legal team, Douma was questioned five times in 2025 over similar accusations linked to social media posts.

The activist previously spent around 10 years in prison after being convicted of taking part in protests in 2011 and of assaulting police officers.

His original 25‑year sentence was later reduced to 15 years, before he was granted a presidential pardon in August 2023.

President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi reactivated a presidential pardon committee in 2022, a move authorities described as being part of a broader human rights initiative that led to the release of hundreds of political detainees.

However, rights groups have criticised the policy, saying that arrests have tripled over the same period despite the pardons.