Investigation authorities also ordered on Saturday the release of Coptic Egyptian activist Ramy Kamel, detained since 2019 over charges including joining a terrorist group.

Photos showed Shaath holding his wife, Celine Lebrun-Shaath, while leaving the Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the Egyptian authorities’ decision to release Shaath in a tweet on Saturday, saying he shares the relief of Shaath’s wife.

Macron also thanked “everyone who has played a positive role in this happy outcome.”

Shaath, 51, the son of former Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath, had been detained since June 2019 over charges of assisting a terrorist group in the case known in the media as the “Hope Cell” case.

Shaath, along with 12 other defendants in the case, also faced charges of disseminating false news about the political and economic conditions in the country in order to destabilise public peace and undermine trust in state institutions.

Shaath is a co-founder of Egypt's branch of the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Releasing Ramy Kamel

Authorities also ordered the release of Ramy Kamel, the founder of the Maspero Youth Union, without any guarantees or additional precautionary measures, his lawyer, Saeed Fayez said.

Kamel returned home after his release procedures were completed, Fayez said.

Security forces arrested Kamel in November 2019 from his home in Giza and seized his phone, camera and personal computer.

The prosecution filed numerous charges against Kamel, including joining and financing a terrorist group.

Charges against Kamel also included broadcasting false news and statements using social media that would harm public security.