Arrested, disappeared and charged with 'divulgating military secrets'
Amro El-Qazaz was arrested on 12 November 2013 at his home by members of State Security wearing civilian clothing who did not show an arrest warrant. Following his arrest, he disappeared for a month. His wife enquired about him to no avail with the police, military prosecutor and prison facilities. His wife was later informed by a lawyer that Mr Qazaz was being interrogated and detained by the Military Intelligence Services. He was referred by the prosecutor to trial before the misdemeanour military court on 23 January 2014, charged with 'divulgating military secrets'.

Islam El Homsy was arrested on 18 November 2013, only six days after Mr El-Qazaz, in the courtyard of the University of Ain Shams by agents of the Military intelligence Services wearing civilian clothing, who did not show a warrant. After his arrest, his whereabouts were unknown until 27 November 2011 when he was transferred to Tora Prison. We have since learned that he was interrogated that same day by the military prosecutor, and was also charged with 'divulgating military secrets'.

The cases of the two men were combined, and they had their first hearing before the Misdemeanour Military Court of North Cairo on 24 February 2014. The trial was adjourned to 2 March 2014, then to 4 March 2014.

Violation of freedom of expression
The arrest of these two journalists came after Rassd leaked videos of Field Marshal Sisi, the current Ministry of Defence and head of the armed forces, on their website. These videos show Field Marshal Sisi either expressing his wish to control the media to "protect the army" [1] or his wish to increase the price of cell phone services [2] . During their secret detention, the two men were interrogated about the leak of these videos and questioned about their political opinions.
According to article 204 of the new Egyptian constitution, "civilians cannot stand trial before military courts except for crimes that represent a direct assault against military facilities, military barracks, or whatever falls under their authority; or crimes that represent a direct assault against its officers or personnel because of the performance of their duties."

These leaks hardly jeopardise public order enough to warrant a limitation on the right to freedom of expression and even less a referral before a military court. Regardless of this, Egyptian military courts are infamous for muzzling voices that channel information that might be embarrassing to the army's public image.

Since the military take over on 3 July 2013, persecution of journalists has become rampant in Egypt, especially those who criticize the authorities. There are reportedly 30 journalists who are currently facing charges only for having exercised their right to freedom of expression.
Today, Alkarama solicited the urgent intervention of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to ask the Egyptian authorities to release the two Egyptian journalists and drop the charges against them.