Egyptian lawyer says authorities released Al-Jazeera journalist after more than four years in detention
CAIRO – Egyptian authorities released an Al-Jazeera journalist on Saturday after more than four years in detention, his family’s lawyer said.
Mahmoud Hussein left a police station on Saturday afternoon, a few days after a court ordered his parole pending investigations into allegations of false information and membership in a banned group, lawyer Gamal Eid said.
The lawyer said Hussein will have to report to a nearby police station twice a week.
The journalist’s daughter, el-Zahraa Hussein, confirmed the news in a Facebook post, saying that her father had arrived home. Al-Jazeera also reported his release.
Hussein, an Egyptian working for Qatar’s satellite network, was detained at Cairo airport in December 2016 when he arrived on a family vacation in Doha, the network said.
Since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Egyptian authorities and pro-government media have described the Al-Jazeera network as Egypt’s national enemy for its sympathy for Islamists, especially the outlaw group of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The network, especially its Arab services, and its staff were involved in the wider political rift between Cairo and Doha. Egyptian authorities have blocked the 2017 Al-Jazeera news website, along with dozens of other news sites deemed too critical of the government.
Hussein’s release comes a month after Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain ended their dispute with Qatar, which began in 2017 and included the four countries that severed diplomatic and economic ties. with energy-rich Qatar.
The four countries have accused Qatar of approaching Iran and funding extremist groups in the region. Doha has denied the allegations. Al-Jazeera was at the center of the dispute. The four nations called for its closure, among other measures, which Qatar rejected.
Egypt is close to the latest indicators of press freedom. It is third on the list of the best prison prisons for journalists in the world, behind China and Turkey, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists published in early December.
Authorities have launched a crackdown on dissent in recent years, imprisoning thousands of people, especially Morsi’s Islamist supporters, as well as a number of well-known secular activists.