Egypt frees blogger after more than six years in jail

Egyptian blogger Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan, better known by the moniker Mohamed Oxygen, has been freed after spending more than six years in prison for spreading fake news, according to the press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“RSF, which awarded Mohamed Oxygen the RSF Courage Prize in 2023, is delighted by his release” on March 20, the NGO says.

Founder of the blog “Oxygen Egypt,” Radwan was arrested in 2019 after publishing videos on social media about protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has sought to muzzle dissent since coming to power after ousting his predecessor in 2013.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says Radwan was sentenced to four years in prison in 2021, and should have been released sooner.

His conviction was “preceded by several years of pre-trial detention that were not deducted from his sentence, in violation of the law,” the group says.

RSF’s 2025 World Press Freedom Index ranks Egypt near the bottom, at 170th out of 180.

According to human rights groups, the country holds tens of thousands of political prisoners, activists, journalists and opponents in its jails, a claim Cairo denies.