3 journalists released on bail after month-long detention

Daily News Egypt
2 Min Read
Egyptian photojournalists hold signs in English and Arabic, including one reading "Freedom to the camera" (R), during a demonstration outside the Shura council in Cairo on March 19, 2013 (AFP File Photo)

The Sayeda Zeinab prosecution decided Monday morning to release journalists arrested at the Zeinhom morgue on a bail of EGP 10,000 each, according to the independent observatory Journalists Against Torture.

The prosecution has, so far, not appealed the decision.

The released journalists have been named as: Hamdy Al-Zaeem, who works for privately owned Al-Shaab newspaper; Sherif Ashraf, a freelance reporter; and Mohamed Adly, a reporter for Tahrir newspaper.

On 1 July, nine “unarmed members” of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were executed in a residential flat in 6th of October City by Egyptian security forces. The journalists were arrested in July whilst covering the arrival of the nine bodies at the Forensic Medicine Authority, and faced charges of working without a permit, working for Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel, and belonging to a terrorist organisation. They were with a group of nine other journalists who were released on the same day.

In the period between 30 June and 3 July, the second anniversary of the 30 June uprising, nine more journalists were prevented from covering incidents, while others were arrested and released on the same day. The list includes journalists from prominent newspapers such as Al-Fagr, Al-Masriya, Veto, Al-Bawaba, Al-Youm Al-Sabaa, Masrawy, as well as freelance photojournalists.

Reporting by Waleed Samir

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