CPJ, partners demand release of detained Shi’a Muslims in Egypt, including journalist Haidar Qandil

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined partner organizations on Wednesday to strongly condemn the arrest and enforced disappearance of at least 36 Shi’a Muslims in Egypt, including journalist Haidar Qandil, and called for their immediate release.

Qandil was arrested on June 22, 2026, outside the offices of Al-Dostor newspaper in Giza, Greater Cairo, and taken to an undisclosed location — just hours after he had spent the day documenting the arrests of Egyptian Shi’a Muslims ahead of Ashura, a key religious commemoration.

On July 16, after almost 24 days of enforced disappearance, Qandil appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution. Accused of joining, leading, and financing a terrorist group, Qandil was remanded in custody for 15 days under Case No. 5653 of 2026.

Egypt remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 19 currently behind bars.

Read the full letter in English and Arabic.