AN award-winning Egyptian photojournalist, Mahmoud Abu Zeid, known as Shawkan, was released on Monday after being in prison for over five years.

A post on his Twitter account said he was free, with a picture of him on the street.

Shawkan had been in jail since Aug. 14, 2013 when he was arrested while covering a demonstration in Cairo by supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

He was accused of being part of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood which Egyptian authorities had declared a terrorist organisation.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in August, but his release was expected since he had already served over five years in pre-trial detention.

In the same case, 75 people were sentenced to death for participating in the sit-in.

Shawkan in April won the 2018 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize.

In 2016, he also received the International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). (dpa/NAN)

– Mar. 4, 2019 @ 11:45 GMT |