On Friday 20 March, at around 4 pm, Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan, better known as Mohamed Oxygen, was finally freed. After spending over six unjust years in prison in Egypt for “spreading false news” and “propaganda against the state,” on 18 March, the young blogger’s name was included on the Egyptian Prosecutor General’s list of detainees granted pardon for Eid, the end of Ramadan. Two days later, after being transferred from Badr prison, in eastern Egypt, to the 15 May prison in the capital, Cairo, the owner of the YouTube blog named Oxygen Misr (Egypt’s Oxygen) was ultimately released. “Mohamed is out of prison, thank God,” his brother Khaled Radwan confirmed in a message to RSF. “He is too tired to speak today, but we are relieved that he is well.” Abeer El-Safty, a journalist and former colleague of Mohamed Oxygen, now exiled in the city of Caen in France, was overjoyed: “Mohamed is out,” she said tearfully over the phone. “I can’t believe it. I hope he remains free. What wonderful news!”

“The release of Mohamed Oxygen after more than six years in prison is a tremendous relief, but he should never have spent a single day behind bars. The blogger’s initial sentence, an unjustified punishment for a man whose only ‘crime’ was reporting the news, should have ended in 2023, as his sentence had already been served. Since then, the blogger has faced relentless harassment from the state, which refused to release him. Today, his ordeal has come to an end. He must be able to enjoy this freedom fully without facing any legal harassment. We are relieved that the blogger is in good health, according to his relatives, and call on the Egyptian authorities to release the 18 other media professionals who remain behind bars.

The two days between the announcement of the pardon and Mohamed Oxygen’s release were interminable for the family, who had been waiting with bated breath since seeing the blogger’s name on the pardon list. In Egypt, it is not uncommon for a decision to release a detainee to be reversed at the last minute, with new charges brought against them and for their prison sentence to be extended. The initial prison sentence imposed on Mohamed Oxygen for “spreading false news” and “propaganda against the state” via his blog, was in fact due to end in 2023.

However, the Egyptian courts decided not to take into account the time Mohamed Oxygen had spent in prison before his conviction – between his arrest in September 2019 and the official confirmation of his sentence in January 2022. As a result, his new release date was pushed back to 3 January 2026. When that date arrived, Mohamed Oxygen was nevertheless charged again, on the basis of another complaint filed in 2020, for the same charges. He was then held in prison until his pardon on 20 March. The 2020 case remains ongoing.

Winner of the 2023 RSF Courage Prize
For his courageous reporting given the risks involved, Mohamed Oxygen was awarded the RSF Courage Prize in December 2023 in Brussels. However, RSF was unable to present the award in person to the imprisoned blogger. Since July 2023, Mohamed Oxygen had been held in solitary confinement at Badr prison, in a cell around 1.5 square metres, without a window that is infested with rats and cockroaches, according to RSF information. Fearing for his life, RSF had called on the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, as well as other relevant UN bodies, to intervene.