Human Rights Watch urged Egyptian authorities on Wednesday to drop terrorism-related charges against Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

Bahgat was briefly detained before being released on 20,000 Egyptian pound (US$398) bail. He faces three charges which include participating in the activities of a terrorist group, financing a terrorist group, and spreading false news. His detention followed publishing a report that demanded an investigation into the dire conditions at 10th of Ramadan 6 Prison, where families of detainees have reported severe abuses and hunger strikes. A few days after the publication, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior threatened legal action.

Bahgat was summoned to the Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution on Sunday, where he was questioned about the source of the information on prison conditions. Prosecutors treated the group’s statement as false news that undermines the country’s security. After hours of interrogation, Bahgat was released with conditions, although he remains under investigation. The EIPR condemned the investigation and charges in “the strongest terms”. Human Rights Watch contends that his detention is part of broader “attempts to quash independent human rights work in Egypt”.

This marks the fourth time since 2020 that Egyptian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against senior members of the EIPR. In November 2020, three EIPR executives—Karim Ennarah, Mohammed Basheer, and Gasser Abdel-Razek—were arrested shortly after meeting with foreign diplomats to discuss the human rights crisis in Egypt. They were later released under intense international pressure, including appeals from actor Scarlett Johansson. Nonetheless, the group remains under tight scrutiny, with the courts freezing assets and subjecting EIPR staff to repeated arrests and threats.

Amr Magdi, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, described Bahgat’s case as a “serious escalation in the Egyptian authorities’ attempts to quash independent human rights work.” He further states:

The charges against Bahgat, premised on the important and legitimate work of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, should be immediately dropped. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi should rein in his agencies’ relentless campaign against nongovernmental organizations whose brave work is indispensable for the Egyptian people.

Bahgat’s difficulties with Egyptian authorities date back more than a decade. In 2016, he and numerous other defenders were hit with travel bans as part of the infamous ‘NGO foreign funding’ case. This alleged that local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) received illegal funds from abroad to undermine national security. Though Bahgat travelled abroad in 2024 for the first time in eight years, the new case indicates his ongoing cycle of harassment by the authorities.