Authorities transfer Shawkan to Al Haram police station prior release

CAIRO – 18 February 2019: Egyptian authorities transferred Sunday photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid – known as Shawkan- to Al Haram police station to end the procedures of his release after more than five years in Jail.

The photojournalist was arrested in 2013 while covering the dispersal of Raba’a sit-in, which was staged by the supporters of the former President Mohammed Morsi. Authorities accused Shawkan along with other defendants of a series of charges that included attacking the police, vandalizing public properties and attempting murder.

The photojournalist will be under probation for five years after release. His imprisonment sparked controversy among several human rights organizations that saw his conviction was based on a groundless accusation.