The Egyptian Front for Human Rights documented a broad security campaign that targeted family members of Egyptian dissidents living outside the country, which since the second half of August 2026 has led to the detention of about 125 citizens pending three cases before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, according to a report the Front published on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
The Front said the prosecution charged the detainees with joining a terrorist group, financing it, and broadcasting false news inside and outside the country, in cases Nos. 6889, 6462 and 6252 of 2026 Supreme State Security. It added that the campaign was not limited to the families of dissidents engaged in political or media activity, and extended to the families of dissidents living abroad who are not engaged in any activity there.
According to the Front, the campaign extended to 16 governorates, including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Dakahlia, Sharqia, Minya, Assiut, Sohag and Qena, and the detainees are held in several prisons, including Gamasa 2, Wadi El Natrun 10, Borg El Arab 2, El Asher 2 and Abu Zaabal. In parallel, others were questioned before district prosecution offices in Cairo and elsewhere, including the Ain Shams and New Cairo prosecution offices, and the New Cairo Prosecution ordered the release of some of them, while others remained in detention.
Human Rights Watch documented in a report issued in November 2019 raids, arrests, interrogations and travel bans against relatives of journalists and activists living abroad, in 28 cases between 2016 and 2019.
Photo: Mohamed Ouda via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
