Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Egypt Frees Al Jazeera Journalist After Four Years in Detention
Error: Contact form not found.
by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
Journalist Mahmoud Hussein embraces with his daughter after being released by Egyptian authorities after four years in detention on accusations of publishing false news, in Abou Al Nomros, in Giza, Egypt. February 6, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Egyptian authorities on Saturday released a journalist working for Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network who was held in pre-trial detention for more than four years, his brother and a lawyer told Reuters.
Mahmoud Hussein, an Egyptian detained in December 2016 after arriving in Cairo from Doha on vacation, was held on charges of spreading false news, joining a banned group and receiving foreign funds.
He was released after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt agreed in January to restore diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar, severed in 2017 over allegations that Qatar supported terrorism, a charge Doha denies.
A Cairo court ordered Hussein’s release with “precautionary measures,” pending investigations on Feb. 1, his brother, Nageh Hussein, and lawyer Taher Abou al-Nasr told Reuters.
Abou al-Nasr said prosecutors had not appealed against the decision, as they had against a similar decision in 2019.
It was not immediately clear what the release conditions were but Nageh Hussein said his brother may have to spend several hours a week in a police station.
Al Jazeera Media Network welcomed the news.
“No journalist should ever be subjected to what Mahmoud has suffered for the past four years for merely carrying out his profession,” the TV network said in a statement on its website.
A video posted by his brother on Facebook showed relatives and neighbors receiving him with hugs, chants and drums beating in his village near Cairo.
Egypt freed three Al Jazeera journalists, an Australian, an Egyptian-Canadian and an Egyptian, in 2015 after more than one year in detention pending trial.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has accused Egypt of putting journalists behind bars to muzzle dissent, saying that 27 were in prison as of late 2020.
Egyptian authorities say legal action has only been taken against those who break the law.
