Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abou-Zeid, AKA Shawkan (Photo: Freedom for Shawkan Facebook page)
The family of detained Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abou-Zeid, aka Shawkan, have announced that they will start a sit-in at the Journalists Syndicate to demand their son's release, the Freedom for Shawkan official Facebook campaign page has said.
The 27-year-old freelance photojournalist’s family said their son’s health is deteriorating and are calling for his release.
Abou-Zeid was arrested in August 2013 while covering the violent dispersal by security forces of a sit-in by supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
He has spent more than 650 days in pre-trial detention.
In May 2015, for the first time in two years, he appeared before a judge in a court of law to be arraigned. The judge renewed his detention.
However, he has not officially not been charged with any crime.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said it had found that Egyptian authorities were holding at least 18 journalists behind bars over their reporting. It said that was the highest in the country since the CPJ began recording data on imprisoned journalists in 1990.
Egyptian journalists have been protesting to call for their colleagues' release.
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