Egypt to release Al Jazeera journalist detained more than two years after Al Sisi visit to Qatar

Sep. 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Egyptian authorities have taken the decision to release a journalist from the Qatari television network Al Jazeera arrested in August 2020 for alleged “membership of an outlawed group” and “dissemination of false news”, within the framework of the first visit to Qatar of the Egyptian president, Abdelfatá al Sisi.

Samir al Baguri, lawyer for the journalist, Ahmed al Najdi, stressed that the decision has been adopted by the State Security Prosecutor’s Office, according to Al Jazeera, which over the last two years has called on the Egyptian government on numerous occasions to proceed to the release of the reporter.

For his part, Tariq el Waadi, a member of Egypt’s presidential pardon committee, has said on his Twitter account that he applauds the decision to “release Al Jazeera journalists who are detained awaiting trial.” without giving more details about it.

Al Jazeera has denounced that Al Najdi and three other journalists from the chain – Hisham Abdelaziz, Bahaudín Ibrahim and Rabie el Sheikh – were detained without being tried or charged. Abdelaziz was arrested in June 2019, while Ibrahim was arrested in February 2020 and Al SHeij was arrested in August 2021.

The announcement has come after a two-day visit by Al Sisi to Qatar, where he has met with the Qatari emir, Tamim bin Hamad al Zani, who made an official trip to Cairo in June, which points to a rapprochement between both countries. In fact, the visit is the first by Al Sisi since he came to power in 2014 after a military coup against the then president, the Islamist Mohamed Mursi.