Mahmoud Hussein
Detained: December 22, 2016
Charges: No official charges.
Sentence: Not yet sentenced.
Biography: Employed as a producer in Doha by Qatari TV news broadcaster Al Jazeera, Mahmoud Hussein was arrested on December 22, 2016 after returning to Egypt to spend the holidays with relatives in Cairo. For no apparent reason, the Egyptian authorities detained him, searched and filmed his family's home, and interrogated his relatives. Since his arrest, Hussein has remained in detention in Cairo's infamous Tora prison complex, was held in prolonged solitary confinement for at least 89 days and has been denied his legal rights. To this day, no formal charges have been brought against him. In June, Hussein's lawyer called for his immediate release days after he completed what is legally considered the maximum period of pre-trial detention permitted under Egyptian law. This request was not met, and his detention was renewed again in mid-October – the seventeenth time Hussein's pre-trial detention has been thus renewed. Hussein has now been held without charge for over 685 days.
Mahmoud Hussein was granted TEMPORARY RELEASE on February 6, 2021, pending investigation.
Advocacy Partner: Reporters Without Borders
Updates:
- Egyptian authorities have renewed the detention of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein for another 45 days, adding to the 713 days he has already spent in jail without charges. The decision came after his hearing on November 19, but his lawyer was only made aware of it on Sunday (December 3, 2018, Al Jazeera).
- As of December 23, Mahmoud Hussein has spent two years behind bars without charges or trial. His detention is now in violation of both Egyptian and international law, with the former setting 24 months as the maximum period for pre-trial detention (December 23, 2018, Al Jazeera).
- A court in Egypt has ordered the release of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein from prison after more than 880 days of detention. He is expected to be released within the coming days (May 23, 2019, Al Jazeera).
- Mahmoud Hussein was returned to Tora prison under unclear circumstances. He had previously been transfered to a holding cell in preparation for release (May 28, 2019, Al Jazeera).
- The International Press Institute (IPI) again urged Egypt to free Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, who has now spent 1,000 days behind bars (September 16, 2019, Dawn).
- Egyptian authorities have turned down a request by the detained Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein to visit his ailing father who has suffered strokes and is reportedly unable to walk, speak or ingest food (September 24, 2019, Al Jazeera).
- As journalist Mahmoud Hussein has spent over 1,300 days in prison without a trial, Egyptian authorities have decided to extend his detention by another 45 days (August 8, 2020, Al Jazeera).
- On February 6, 2021, Mahmoud Hussein was released from preventative detention after being held for more than four years without formal charges or trial. (February 6, 2021, Al Jazeera).