Journalist Khaled El Balshy — a keen defender of freedom of expression and a democracy advocate, deputy head of the Egyptian Press Syndicate and head of the syndicate’s Freedom Committee — has been vigorously campaigning for the release of jailed journalists in Egypt. This week Balshy himself faced prosecution and risked being imprisoned on charges of “inciting protests, insulting the police and inciting to overthrow the regime.”

His ordeal was short-lived, however, lasting only a few days. On April 6 the Interior Ministry, which had filed the legal complaint against him, was forced to withdraw the lawsuit following an outcry from fellow journalists, free speech advocates and rights organizations, triggered by the miscalculated move. 

The legal complaint against Balshy was filed earlier in the week by the assistant interior minister for legal affairs, who provided video footage and screen shots of Balshy’s posts on Facebook and Twitter as “evidence” against the journalist. The lawsuit resulted in an arrest warrant against Balshy by the general prosecution. 

Balshy was unruffled throughout the crisis. Minutes after hearing of the warrant for his arrest, he boldly declared in a Facebook post: “If they want to arrest me, I’m in my office. I’m not better than those who are imprisoned.”