Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to release retired journalist Tawfiq Ghanem, who has been detained since May 21, 2021.
The organization said in a tweet on Twitter that Ghanem, 66, "has already spent 300 unjust days behind bars because of his journalistic work."
"He has been denied adequate health care for his numerous health problems and is being held in appalling conditions," she added.
#Egypt: Demand @AlsisiOfficial to release journalist #Tawfik_Ghanim, now 66 years old.
He has already spent 300 unjust days behind bars for his journalistic work.
He has been denied adequate health care for his numerous health problems, and is being held in appalling conditions.
pic.twitter.com/cIxWIbkubQ
— Amnesty International (@AmnestyAR) March 20, 2022
The Egyptian security forces arrested Ghanem after raiding his house in the 6th of October city (west of Cairo) in May last year.
The State Security Prosecution ordered him remanded in custody on charges of "belonging to a terrorist group", and his detention was renewed several times.
On March 19, the authorities extended his detention for another 45 days.
Tawfiq Ghanem has retired from journalistic work since 2015, and he suffers from diabetes and other diseases, and needs medication on a daily basis, according to a previous statement by his family.
Ghanem held - according to the same statement - many positions in press institutions for more than 30 years, most notably the presidency of the "Media International" Foundation, which ran the "Islam Online" website, in addition to the position of director of the regional office of the Turkish Anatolia Agency in Cairo until 2015.