{{Short description|Egyptian activist (born 1988)}} {{use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} [[File:Ahmed Douma cropped.jpg|thumb|Douma in Cairo during the "Day of Anger", 25 January 2011]]
'''Ahmed Douma''' ({{langx|ar|أحمد دومة}}, {{IPA|arz|ˈæħmæd ˈduːmæ|pron}}; born 11 September 1988<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Public-Figure/ahmed.douma2012/about/|title=Ahmed Douma official facebook page|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=2019-09-11}}</ref>) is an Egyptian activist and blogger, who has been arrested under each consecutive Egyptian government in recent years. He is a member of the Egyptian Popular Current.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/98598/Egypt/Politics-/Political-groups-call-on-Egypts-president-to-pardo.aspx|title=Political groups call on Egypt's president to pardon jailed activists, revoke protest law|agency=Ahram Online|date=8 April 2014|access-date=8 April 2014}}</ref> Having been in prison since 2013, he was released on 19 August 2023 following a presidential pardon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-sisi-pardons-activist-ahmed-douma|title=Egypt's Sisi pardons jailed activist Ahmed Douma|website=Middle East Eye|date=19 August 2023|access-date=22 August 2023}}</ref>
==Political activism and arrests== [[File:غرافيتي-أحمد دومة.jpg|thumb|left|A graffiti image of Douma on a wall near the American University in Cairo]]
In February 2009, Ahmed Douma, then a student at Tanta University, was arrested at the border to the Gaza Strip, after he had entered it with a group of anti-war activists who wanted to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people. He was tried before a military court for illegally crossing the border and was sentenced to one year in prison. During his transport to the prison and during interrogations there, Douma was tortured and threatened with the use of false confessions to obtain further convictions against him.<ref>{{cite web|title=Egypt: Ahmed Douma, student blogger, tortured during detention in Damanhour prison|url=http://en.alkarama.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=381:egypt-ahmed-douma-student-blogger-tortured-during-detention-in-damanhour-prison&catid=22:communiqu&Itemid=102|access-date=26 December 2013|website=Al Karama|date=18 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227114107/http://en.alkarama.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=381:egypt-ahmed-douma-student-blogger-tortured-during-detention-in-damanhour-prison&catid=22:communiqu&Itemid=102|archive-date=27 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In January 2012, he was detained and charged with inciting violence against the army and encouraging attacks on public property, following the Cabinet clashes in December 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Activist Abou Doma Denies Attacking Army, Allowed to Attend Exams|url=https://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4023/activist-abou-doma-denies-attacking-army-allowed-t|access-date=26 December 2013|website=Jadaliyya|date=13 January 2012}}</ref> During these clashes, 12 people were killed and 815 were injured, when police and military forces cracked down on a sit-in outside the Cabinet office in Cairo, which was organized by activists protesting against the appointment of Kamal Ganzouri as prime minister by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.<ref>{{cite news|title=Egyptians commemorate 2011 cabinet clashes|url=https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/12/16/egyptians-commemorate-2011-cabinet-clashes/|access-date=26 December 2013|newspaper=Daily News Egypt|date=16 December 2013}}</ref>
In April 2013, Douma was arrested after calling president Mohammed Morsi a killer and a criminal, and on 3 June Douma was convicted to six months in prison for insulting the president.<ref>{{cite news|title=Activist Douma gets 6 months in prison for 'insulting president'|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/73055/Egypt/Politics-/Activist-Douma-gets--months-in-prison-for-insultin.aspx|access-date=26 December 2013|newspaper=Ahram Online|date=3 June 2013}}</ref> However, Douma appealed the verdict, and on 6 July another court ordered his release without bail.<ref>{{cite news|title=Egypt court orders release of activist Douma|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/75841/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-court-orders-release-of-activist-Douma.aspx|access-date=26 December 2013|newspaper=Ahram Online|date=6 July 2013}}</ref>
On 3 December 2013, Douma was arrested at his home, following a protest organized by the ''No Military Trials for Civilians'' campaign in defiance of a new restrictive protest law, which was violently dispersed by the police.<ref>{{cite news|title=Activists’ arrests continue|url=https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/12/03/activists-arrests-continue/|access-date=26 December 2013|newspaper=Daily News Egypt|date=3 December 2013}}</ref> On 22 December, he was sentenced, together with Ahmed Maher and Mohammed Adel, to three years in prison with hard labour and a fine of LE50,000 for his participation in protests illegal under the new protest law.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Blow to Leadership of ’11 Revolt, Egypt Activists Are Given 3 Years in Prison|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/world/middleeast/egyptian-activists-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison-for-protests.html|access-date=23 December 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 December 2013}}</ref> In an attempt to reverse the verdict, Douma joined a hunger strike with other detainees who were imprisoned under the new protest law. However, he had to end it due to his deteriorating health.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fanack|title=Ahmed Douma, Egypt’s Repeatedly Jailed Activist|url=https://chronicle.fanack.com/egypt/faces/ahmed-douma/|website=Fanack.com|access-date=13 May 2015}}</ref>
The verdict was condemned by several Egyptian human rights organisations, as well as by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton and the United Kingdom Foreign Office.<ref>{{cite news|title=Activist sentencing draws domestic and international criticism|first=Basil|last=El-Dabh|url=https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/12/23/activist-sentencing-draws-domestic-and-international-criticism/|access-date=26 December 2013|newspaper=Daily News Egypt|date=23 December 2013}}</ref> On 23 December, the Road of the Revolution Front organized a demonstration in Cairo in solidarity with the three activists.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hundreds rally in solidarity with Douma, Adel and Maher|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/89890/Egypt/Politics-/Hundreds-rally-in-solidarity-with-Douma,-Adel-and-.aspx|access-date=26 December 2013|newspaper=Ahram Online|date=23 December 2013}}</ref> Hamdeen Sabahi has censured the court conviction sentencing Maher, Mohamed Adel, and Douma to three years in prison and a fine of LE50,000 and maintains that Interim President Adly Mansour should issue these and other detained individuals a pardon.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/98488/Egypt/Politics-/Presidential-candidate-demands-release-of-revoluti.aspx|title=Presidential candidate demands release of 'revolution activists'|agency=Ahram Online|date=7 April 2014|access-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> The Constitution Party has expressed solidarity with the detainees and their families and requested that the interim President Adly Mansour issue a pardon to Ahmed Maher, Mohammed Adel, and Ahmed Douma, as well as to Loay Abdel Rahman, Omar Hussein, Islam Ahmed, and Nasser Ibrahim.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.egyptindependent.com//news/constitution-party-requests-president-mansour-pardon-arrested-activists|title=Constitution Party requests President Mansour to pardon arrested activists|agency=Egypt Independent|date=7 April 2014|access-date=7 April 2014}}</ref>
On 4 February 2015, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Douma to life imprisonment and fined him LE17 million.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-activist-idUSKBN0L81DI20150204 | title=Egyptian court sends activist Ahmed Douma to jail for life | work=Reuters | date=4 February 2015 | access-date=4 February 2015}}</ref>
In January 2019, his sentence for participating in the 2011 protests against the administration of President Hosni Mubarak was reduced to 15 years.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46817157| title=Ahmed Douma: Egyptian activist jailed for 15 years at retrial| publisher=BBC| date=January 9, 2019}}</ref>
On 3 December 2022, Douma completed a decade in arbitrary detention. His family raised multiple requests for a presidential pardon and reconsideration of the activist's case. The family renewed their call in 2022. On 24 November 2022, the European Parliament also called for the Egyptian authorities to immediately release the unjustly detained prisoners, including Douma. Dozens of human rights organizations and groups, including Amnesty International, MENA Rights Group, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), and others, also urged the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Douma.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde12/6297/2022/en/|title=Egypt: Ahmed Douma – 10 years of arbitrary detention, rights groups renew their call for his immediate release.|access-date=13 December 2022|website=Amnesty International}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://menarights.org/en/articles/egypt-ahmed-douma-10-years-arbitrary-detention|title=Egypt – Ahmed Douma: 10 years of arbitrary detention|access-date=13 December 2022|website=MENA Rights Group}}</ref>
Douma was pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on 19 August 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/19/egypts-president-al-sisi-pardons-activist-douma-other-prisoners|title=Ahmed Douma arrested from home overnight |date=19 August 2023|accessdate=19 August 2023|work=Al Jazeera English}}</ref>
He was arrested on unknown charges in January 2026, as part of a flurry of persecution against activists, including Aida Seif el-Dawla and Mahienour El-Massry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://manassa.news/en/news/29824|title=Ahmed Douma arrested in 'total secrecy' from Mokattam home, family says|date=20 January 2026|accessdate=20 January 2026|work=Al Manassa|first=Mohamed|last=Napolion}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=14 February 2026|title=Joint Statement: Human Rights Organizations Condemn the Escalating Use of Summons and Excessive Bail Before the Supreme State Security Prosecution|url=https://eipr.org/en/press/2026/02/joint-statement-human-rights-organizations-condemn-escalating-use-summons-and|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301104007/https://eipr.org/en/press/2026/02/joint-statement-human-rights-organizations-condemn-escalating-use-summons-and|archive-date=1 March 2026|access-date=1 March 2026|work=Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights|language=en}}</ref> He was released after being detained for 12 hours following the payment of a 100, 000 EGP.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 January 2026 |title=Egypt: Arbitrary arrest of Ahmed Douma amid continuous judicial harassment |url=https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/egypt-arbitrary-arrest-ahmed-douma-amid-continuous-judicial-harassment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260313022655/https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/egypt-arbitrary-arrest-ahmed-douma-amid-continuous-judicial-harassment |archive-date=13 March 2026 |access-date=18 March 2026 |work=Front Line Defenders |language=en}}</ref>
On 6 April 2026, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered Douma's detention for four days, citing an ongoing investigation, after Douma complied with summons for questioning on charges of "publishing false news and statements". On 9 April, the Advisory chamber for Misdemeanours in Badr and El Shorouk authorised the extension of Douma's detention for a further 15 days.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 April 2026 |title=Detention of poet and human rights defender Ahmed Douma extended for 15 days |url=https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/detention-poet-and-human-rights-defender-ahmed-douma-extended-15-days |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260418155632/https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/detention-poet-and-human-rights-defender-ahmed-douma-extended-15-days |archive-date=18 April 2026 |access-date=18 April 2026 |work=Front Line Defenders |language=en}}</ref>
== Writing == Douma wrote about his incarceration experiences, dreams, and aspirations in his poetry. He published his poetry collection ''Soutak Talee'' (Your Voice Is Heard) in 2012 with Diwan publishing house, where he shared his revolutionary poetry and his experiences with several youth and reformist movements in Egypt. He documented the dates and locations during his imprisonment at the end of this poem, in which he told his story of imprisonment and oppression.<ref>{{Cite web |last=International |first=P. E. N. |date=2022-03-21 |title=Forbidden poetry - Ahmed Douma |url=https://pen-international.org/news/prison-writing-by-ahmed-douma |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=PEN International |language=en}}</ref>
Also, his poetry collection ''Curly'' was printed and published during the 2021 Cairo International Book Fair through EL Maraya publishing house. However, security officials barged into the publishing house section during the fair and asked them to take Douma's poetry collection down.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Security prevent sale of poetry book by detained activist Ahmed Douma at Cairo International Book Fair |url=https://www.madamasr.com/en/2021/07/15/news/u/security-prevent-sale-of-poetry-book-by-detained-activist-ahmed-douma-at-cairo-international-book-fair/ |date=July 15, 2021|access-date=2022-11-19 |website=Mada Masr |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== <!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦---> * Alaa Abd El-Fattah * Mohammed Adel * Ahmed Harara * Ahmed Maher * Kefaya
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commonscatinline}}
{{Egyptian Revolution of 2011}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douma, Ahmed}} Category:1985 births Category:Egyptian bloggers Category:Egyptian democracy activists Category:Egyptian dissidents Category:Living people Category:People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 Category:Tanta University alumni Category:Egyptian activists for Palestinian solidarity