A Giza criminal court has ordered on Saturday the release of satirist Shady Abu Zeid with probationary measures after two years in detention on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

The court also ordered the release of two others in the same case.

Per the probationary measures, Abu Zeid and the others will regularly report to a police station.

The prosecution had charged the defendants with “joining an outlawed group that aimed to suspend the constitution and the law and hinder state institutions in carrying out their duties”.

It had also charged them of “spreading false news on the economic and political conditions in the country to destabilize public peace in line with the goals of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group…and promoting the goals of the group in undermining confidence in the state and its institutions”.  

Abu Zeid is a comedian and 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 2018. He was also a correspondent for the popular satirical television programme Abla Fahita on the CBC TV station.