Egypt: Writer Wael Abbas released after seven months of detention

PEN International welcomes the release of prominent writer and blogger Wael Abbas on 12 December 2018, after seven months of pre-trial detention on politically-motivated charges. On 1st December 2018, the Giza criminal court ordered his conditional release, but the public prosecutor appealed this decision. On 3 December 2018, the Cairo criminal court refused the appeal and confirmed Abbas’ release.

“We are delighted to hear that Wael Abbas has been released, although he should have never been arrested in the first place. Abbas’ imprisonment is related to his peaceful activism and writings critical of the Egyptian government. All other writers and journalists unfairly imprisoned in Egypt must also be released immediately” - said Carles Torner, PEN International Executive Director.

Abbas was arrest on 24 May 2018, when several armed agents from the Egyptian security service raided his home, blind-folded him and took him to an undisclosed location. Abbas is the author of many books, including Abdel Nasser and minorities  and a collection of Articles 2006 – 2013 which ask the American administration to stop their support of former president Hosni Mubarak, and more recently “another person” which was published in 2018.

PEN International has been campaigning for the release of Abbas. He was one of PEN’s main cases for the Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2018. To see our previous actions on Wael Abbas please click here.

Click here to read more about PEN International’s work on Egypt.

For any further information, please contact Nael Georges, PEN International, Koops Mill Mews, 162-164 Abbey Street, London SE1 2AN | Tel: +44 (0) 207 405 0338 | Email: Nael.Georges@pen-international.org