This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
On July 13, 2020, Egyptian authorities arrested prominent journalist Mohamed Monir, who had appeared on the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera, banned in Egypt.
Monir was charged with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
His daughter revealed that Monir had died in an isolation ward on Monday after falling ill with Covid-19.
Monir's death highlights Egypt's poor press freedoms, ranking 166 out of 180 countries, as described by Reporters Without Borders.
Since the pandemic began, Egypt has reported almost 4,000 deaths and 83,000 coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.
