The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists, today commended the continued illegal detention of prominent Al Jazeera journalist and IPI member Mahmoud Hussein, who has now spent three years behind bars in Egypt’s shadowy prison system.
Despite never having been charged, tried or convicted, the Egyptian national has now spent more than 1090 days in pre-trial detention in Cairo’s notorious Tora prison on politically motivated charges of broadcasting “fake news” and “defaming” state institutions.
His imprisonment has been repeatedly and illegally extended by the Egyptian government in clear violation of both the Egyptian penal code and international law, demonstrating the brazen disregard for the rule of law by the regime of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
Hussein is among 61 journalists currently behind bars in Egypt, which this year holds on to its ignominious title of the world’s third biggest prison for the media, according to IPI figures.