A Cairo criminal court has ordered the release of satirist and video blogger Shady Abu Zeid after he spent nearly two years in pre-trial detention.

Abu Zeid was arrested at his house in May 2018 over charges of spreading false news and joining an outlawed group.

The release order can still be appealed by the prosecution, a right usually exercised by the prosecution in similar cases.

Last year, a criminal court ordered the conditional release of Abu Zeid; however, the decision was overturned after an appeal by the prosecution.

Abu Zeid is a video blogger who produced the satirical news show ‘The Rich Content,’ which he released on YouTube and Facebook from mid-2015 until his arrest.

In 2016, he sparked public outrage after releasing a video showing him and young actor Ahmed Malek handing balloons made of inflated condoms to police officers in Tahrir Square during the fifth anniversary of the uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The comedian was also a correspondent for popular satirical television programme Abla Fahita before he was let go over the condom video.