Cairo: The Egyptian authorities on Monday released Hisham Abdel Aziz, a journalist for Al-Jazeera Mubasher, after nearly 4 years of detention.
The family of Hisham confirmed the implementation of the decision to release him and his arrival at his home in Cairo.
The head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, Khaled Al-Balshi, wrote on his Facebook account, “Congratulations for the release of fellow journalist Hisham Abdel Aziz and his arrival at his home.. Wishing the rest of the imprisoned colleagues.”
He added, “Thank you very much to everyone who helped his release and created the joy that controlled him during the first phone call with me after his release to freedom, and I sincerely wish that the joy reaches the homes of the rest of the imprisoned colleagues, and that the pre-trial detention file is completely terminated.”
46-year-old Hisham Abdel Aziz had been working as a journalist and senior producer for Al-Jazeera Mubasher since 2011.
Egyptian security authorities arrested Hisham in June 2019, and was accused of “joining a terrorist group”, an allegation often used by the regime in Cairo to crack down on journalists and political dissidents.
The Egyptian authorities are still detaining two other Al-Jazeera Mubasher journalists, Bahaa El-Din Ibrahim and Rabih El-Sheikh, all of whom were arrested while they were on a regular vacation to Egypt outside the scope of their work.
Al-Jazeera Network called in several statements to the Egyptian authorities to immediately release its journalists.
