Egyptian photojournalist freed after 5 years in prison

CAIRO, 04 Mar 2019 [Fik/News Sources]: Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, known as Shawkan, was released on Monday after five years in prison.

A Facebook campaigning for Shawkan's freedom confirmed that the photojournalist had been released from a police station in Giza, west of Cairo.

The Facepage posted photos showing Shawkan rejoicing his release with his family.

In 2018, an Egyptian court slapped the photojournalist with a 5-year jail term on multiple charges, including assault.

Shawkan had been imprisoned since August 2013, he was arrested while covering the dispersal by Egyptian security forces of a major protest camp of supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya square following a military coup.

While Egyptian authorities say only 623 people were killed in the dispersal, the Muslim Brotherhood put the death toll at nearly 2,600.

In the aftermath of the coup, Egyptian security forces launched a harsh crackdown on supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood groups, killing hundreds and detaining thousands.