Mahmoud Mohamed Hussein (Photo circulated on social media)
A Cairo court rejected on Thursday the prosecution’s appeal against the Tuesday release order of Mahmoud Mohamed Hussein, an Egyptian teenager who was arrested over two years ago for what his family says was his wearing a shirt with a revolutionary slogan.
Mokhtar Mounir, Hussein's lawyer, announced on his Facebook account on Thursday afternoon that the court upheld the decision to release Hussein and another detainee, Islam Talaat, on a bail of EGP 1,000 each pending trial.
The 23-year-old Talaat was arrested with Hussein.
Since Egyptian law limits pre-trial detention to two years, Mahmoud has qualified for an unconditional release since January of this year.
The administrative procedures for the release may take several days.
Hussein, who was 17 at the time, was arrested on 25 January 2014, the third anniversary of the 2011 revolution, as he was on his way home from a downtown Cairo demonstration.
The two detainees face charges of illegal protesting, possessing Molotov cocktails and “belonging to a terrorist organisation."
Hussein's family and lawyer insist he was detained at a checkpoint in northern Cairo for wearing a T-shirt with the words "A nation without torture."
His detention has sparked widespread condemnation from political activists and local and international human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
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