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 August 14, 2013 when he was arrested while covering a demonstration in Cairo by supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
READ ALSO: Police arraign fake native doctor for allegedly defrauding man of N1.5m
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). (NAN)
