Egypt releases reporter, activist, YouTube star

CAIRO - Egypt has released an online comedian, a journalist and a political activist after they spent months in pre-trial detention, two lawyers said on Monday.

It was the latest in a series of recent releases amid concerns by the United States and international rights groups over the arrests and harassment of rights advocates and critics of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government.

Youtuber Shadi Srour, journalist Shaimaa Sami and activist Ziyad Aboel-Fadel walked free late Sunday from a police headquarters in Cairo, said the two lawyers, Khalid Ali and Ismael el-Rashedi.

Security forces had arrested Srour, who is also an actor, at Cairo International Airport in December 2019 upon his arrival from the US.

He became popular on YouTube for his satirical videos that attracted millions of viewers. In 2019, he posted a video titled “Enough el-Sissi” in which he endorsed calls made by the self-exiled Egyptian businessman Mohamed Ali for people to rise up and rebel against the president.

Aboel-Fadl, the activist, was arrested in March 2019 in Cairo, while Sami was arrested in May 2010 in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Despite their lengthy detention, those arrested and released have yet to stand trial.

Egyptian lawmakers and other public figures have repeatedly urged authorities to release activists and rights advocates who have been detained in recent years over alleged politically motivated charges.

Egypt's government has in recent years waged a wide-scale crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of people, mainly Islamists, but also secular activists involved in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Journalists have also been targeted, with dozens imprisoned and some expelled. Egypt remains among the world’s top jailers of journalists, along with Turkey and China, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.