World News | Lawyer: Egypt Releases Activist After 30 Months of Detention

Cairo, Feb 23 (AP) Egyptian authorities Tuesday released a university professor and activist after he spent some 2 1/2 years in pre-trail detention, his lawyer said.

Hazem Hosny, a political science professor at Cairo University, arrived at his home in Cairo a day after a prosecutor ordered his conditional release.

Hosny was set free pending an investigation into allegations he disseminated false news and joined an outlawed group, his lawyer, Khalid Ali, said.

Hosny was a spokesman for the 2018 presidential campaign of Sami Annan, who served as chief of staff for former president Hosni Mubarak.

Hosny was arrested in September 2019 following small but rare anti-government protests. Hundreds were arrested at the time, but many were released.

Hosny is required to stay at home as part of his conditional release, Ali said.

Egyptian authorities have in recent years launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of people, mainly Islamists, but also several well-known secular activists. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)