Reporters Without Borders called on the Egyptian and Saudi authorities to release the journalists detained in the prisons of the two countries, warning of the dangers of the Corona virus on prisoners. The organization pointed out that Egypt and Saudi Arabia top the list of countries with the largest number of journalists imprisoned in the world.
The organization called on Riyadh and Cairo to release sixty journalists in conjunction with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, noting that many of them spent more than Ramadan behind bars.
The organization added that there were recently arrested journalists like Saudi Maha Al-Rafidi, meaning that they had never had Ramadan fasts in prisons.
The organization said in a statement that there are journalists detained in Egypt who did not wait for Ramadan to be deprived of food and drink, such as the journalist Israa Abdel-Fattah, who started a hunger strike.
The Director of the Middle East division at the organization, Sabrina Bonney, said that the arrival of Ramadan and the outbreak of the Corona epidemic in the difficult prison environment requires the authorities in Egypt and Saudi Arabia to uphold the values of tolerance and amnesty in such times.