Egyptian photojournalist vows to continue work after being freed from jail

Shawkan was arrested covering the brutal crackdown on a protest in 2013

A prominent Egyptian photojournalist has been released after spending five years in jail on trumped-up charges.

During his detention, Mahmoud Abu Zaid, known as "Shawkan," became a symbol of a new crackdown on freedom of expression in Egypt following its 2011 revolution.

Shawkan was arrested while covering the dispersal of a 2013 sit-in protest in Cairo held by supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected leader. The month-long demonstration was brutally put down by security forces, leading to the deaths of more than 800 protesters.

"I can't describe how I feel ... I am free," he said on Monday, following his release.

Upon arrest he was charged with 24 offences, including murder, and later convicted in a mass trial of more than 700 people. When he was sentenced to five years in jail in September 2018, Amnesty International called him a “prisoner of conscience, detained solely for doing his journalistic work.”

Shawkan was freed on Monday after serving his sentence, but under the conditions of his release he will be forced to live under “police observation” for five years, during which time he will be forced to spend 12 hours a day at a police station. Amnesty International condemned the harsh terms on Monday​.

“After his release he faces ludicrous probation measures which require him to spend 12 hours of each day at a police station from 6pm to 6am for the next five years," said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s North Africa Campaigns Director. "These outrageous measures will severely restrict his liberty and should be lifted immediately."

Despite this, he has vowed to continue his work as a journalist.

"All journalists are at risk of being arrested or killed while doing their work. I am not the first and I will not be the last," he said.

His mother, Reda Mahrous, said she felt "born again" after welcoming her son home.

"I feel relieved. I used to stay awake at night thinking, telling myself that Mahmoud will come back today or tomorrow," she said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists awarded him its International Press Freedom Award in 2016. The press freedom group welcomed his release.

"We are relieved to hear that Shawkan is finally free after spending over five years in jail and call on authorities to end their shameful treatment of this photojournalist by removing any conditions to his release," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour.

"The Egyptian government should take steps immediately to improve its image, which has been badly tarnished by this unjust imprisonment--and it can start by releasing all journalists jailed in relation to their work."

Under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, the country’s former army chief who took power in the coup that removed Mr Morsi, Egypt has imprisoned dozens of journalists.

In the five years since Mr Sisi has been president, Egyptian security forces have arrested or charged at least 60,000 people, according to Human Rights Watch. Torture of political detainees has become widespread and endemic, and no opposition to the government is tolerated.