Cartoonist Ashraf Omar was seized from his home by Egyptian police early on 22 July and taken away to an unknown destination, his wife told independent news website #MadaMasr. Colleagues at the independent website where he worked, al-Manassa, are calling on the Egyptian Journalists’ Union to demand his immediate release.

Nora Younis, al-Manassa’s editor said “the cartoons of our colleague Ashraf Omar did not violate any law nor attack anyone, and therefore Al-Manassa considers it unacceptable that he was taken away blindfolded at dawn.”

In addition to his work for al-Manassa, Omar is also well-known as a translator of journalism and political theory.

The Egyptian Journalists’ Union Freedoms Committee issued a statement condemning his arrest and the union’s president Khaled El-Balshy has filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor demanding the release of Omar and 22 other journalists currently detained.

In its statement the Freedoms Committee emphasised “its full solidarity with colleague Ashraf Omar and his right to practice his journalistic work, which relies on drawing cartoons.

“Al-Manassa” website announced that the colleague published some drawings about the electricity crisis and the economic crises facing citizens, which the Freedoms Committee considers an inherent right of the journalist who expresses the suffering of citizens through his drawings.”

#press #media #news #petition #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners

https://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2024/07/22/freedom-for-egyptian-cartoonist-ashraf-omar/