Renowned Egyptian journalist Magdy Hussein released after finishing prison sentence

CAIRO – 19 April 2021: Egyptian authorities on Monday released renowned journalist Magdy Ahmed Hussein after he had finished his imprisonment sentence.

This comes while authorities have over the past months released many journalists pending investigation following a call from head of Journalists Syndicate Diaa Rashwan.

Hussein, arrested in 2014, faced allegations of joining a terrorist group and planning to fund terrorist groups in the case known in media as the “coalition to support legitimacy”.

In 2016, authorities ordered releasing Hussein in the case but remained in custody as he faced another ruling in absentia in another case. Hussein was sentenced to five years in prison and paid a fine of 20,000.

Rashwan thanked the Public Prosecution, the judicial authorities and other concerned bodies for finishing the procedures of Hussein’s release.

Rashwan said in a Facebook post that he contacted Hussein and affirmed that he is among his family waiting to have Ramadan’s iftar (the meal Muslims eat daily in Ramadan to end their fast) with them.

“We are waiting with all hope for the release of other colleagues who are being held in pretrial detention to spend the holy month with their families,” Rashwan added.

Last week, the Public Prosecution ordered the release of veteran journalist Khaled Dawoud and the married journalists Solafa Magdy and Hossam El-Sayad pending investigation.

The three reporters face accusations of disseminating false news and aiding a terrorist group to achieve its goals. They were released after more than a year of pretrial detention.

Magdy and El-Sayad are accused of calling for protests and demonstrating at Al-Tahrir and Ramsis squares in 2019. The Egyptian law bans unlicensed protests.