Security forces stormed the house of Akhbar Al-Youm journalist Mohamed El-Battawy at 3.00am on Tuesday, his wife Rofaida stated on her Facebook. According to head of the Press Syndicate's Freedoms Committee Khaled El-Balshy, they were looking for him, despite him being in custody since June 2015. Moreover, the journalist was reportedly put in solitary confinement. His wife reported that he has been in pretrial detention for 490 days as of 20 October. In June, the Ministry of Interior revealed that the 30-year-old journalist was held in Tora Prison, in response to an inquiry by the Press Syndicate on his whereabouts after his family claimed his disappearance following his arrest from home. El-Battawy is accused of belonging to an illegal organisation—in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.
