After spending over four years in an Egyptian jail without any formal charges filed against him or a trial, Mahmoud Hussein has been freed from detention, according to the Al Jazeera.

Egyptian national, Hussein had been held under "preventive detention" since 23 December 2016.

Mahmoud Hussein, freed today after being arbitrarily detained in an Egyptian prison for more than 1500 days, without formal charges nor trial. pic.twitter.com/FeFkTREtzs

— Al Jazeera PR (@AlJazeera) February 6, 2021

Mostefa Souag, the acting director-general of the Al Jazeera network, said that:

“Al Jazeera Media Network welcomes the news of Mahmoud’s freedom and believes that no journalist should ever be subjected to what Mahmoud has suffered for the past four years for merely carrying out his profession.

“Today, we are pleased he is finally reunited with his family, after being robbed four years from his life and deprived of his fundamental rights. We wish Mahmoud a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to overcome this past ordeal and start a new chapter in his distinguished career.” (Al Jazeera)

Earlier on in the day, Hussein's daughter posted a comment on her Facebook account that read:

“Thank God the decision to release Baba has been implemented.

“… Today, Baba is in his house. Thankfully.” (Al Jazeera)

Hussein was arrested when he was visiting his family in Cairo in 2016 and was interrogated for 15 hours without a lawyer present. He was then released, but again arrested a few days later.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior accused Hussein of “disseminating false news and receiving monetary funds from foreign authorities in order to defame the state’s reputation”.

However, no charges were ever formally brought against him in the four years he was in jail, and the Al Jazeera network and Hussein have consistently denied these accusations.

Source: Al Jazeera
Cover image credit: Al Jazeera

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Nabeela

Content Writer

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