Basma Mostafa is an Egyptian investigative journalist and one of the leading global voices confronting transnational repression. For more than a decade, she exposed state violence in Egypt including torture, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and extrajudicial killings — work that led to her arrest three times before she was forced into exile in 2020.

Now based in Berlin, she has become a key figure in defending press freedom in exile and shaping international responses to cross‑border repression. She is the Programs Director and co‑founder of the Law and Democracy Support Foundation e.V., and co‑spokesperson for the Coalition Against Transnational Repression in Germany.

Her case has been documented by five UN Special Rapporteurs, featured in the UN Secretary‑General’s report on reprisals, and prompted the German government’s first-ever condemnation of a specific incident of transnational repression.

Despite ongoing threats, surveillance, and violence targeting her in Europe, she continues to champion press freedom in exile and strengthen protection mechanisms for at‑risk journalists and human rights defenders.