On Thursday, November 7th, poet and former political prisoner Ahmed Douma received an official request to appear before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in the Fifth Settlement on Sunday, November 10th, concerning Case No. 5892 of 2024, without specifying the nature and subject matter of the case.

Earlier in October, the Public Prosecution issued a statement announcing an investigation into the publication of a poetry book that contains “contempt for religion”. According to the statement, the public prosecutor ordered an investigation into reports “submitted by many individuals” who requested police investigation into the poetry collection and assigned a committee of specialists from Al-Azhar to examine it. 

Although the public prosecution’s statement did not clearly indicate that the book in question was Ahmed Douma’s ‘Curly’, the statement came after Douma was subjected to a violent incitement campaign in which some clergymen accused him of blasphemy because of his book. Subsequently, Dar Al-Maraya (the book's publisher) announced the postponement of a seminar on the book due to "circumstances beyond everyone’s control" and copies of the book were withdrawn from bookstores.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) expresses its concern that Douma has been summoned in connection with a case whose subject matter is not yet known. 

EIPR calls on the Public Prosecution to suspend investigations into the complaints filed regarding the ‘poetry collection’, whether the author is Ahmed Douma or anyone else, in accordance with Article 67 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of artistic and literary creativity. EIPR reminds the investigating authorities that Article 71 of the Constitution affirms that ‘no custodial penalty shall be imposed for offences committed through publication or publicity’.