Mahmoud Hussein .. A thousand days behind bars for retaliatory reasons

محمد غلام Free Membership

Thousands of nights and Mahmoud Hussein lie behind bars in an arbitrary prison fed by a lethal remand, beyond the logic of the law and the provisions of Egyptian legislation itself and judgments.

More than twenty times, the Egyptian authorities renewed the imprisonment of colleague Mahmoud, exceeding the maximum period prescribed by Egyptian law for pre-trial detention, in a behavior described by several human rights organizations as malicious and retaliatory.

During this protracted period, Hussein Rahin remained in custody, subjected to serious violations and solitary confinement for several months, deprived of visits and medical follow-up.Photos showed that he was ill-treated and prevented from treatment despite his shortness of breath, weight loss, psychological stress and a broken left arm.

Mahmoud Hussein was subjected to a flagrant violation of his rights when he was filmed in clips broadcast on pro-government satellite channels described as a terrorist, before being presented to the prosecution.

Solidarity campaigns
Since his arrest on December 20, 2016, during a visit to his family in Egypt, campaigns of solidarity have continued with his case and demands for his release. These campaigns were not limited to Al-Jazeera network, but to more than twenty international and international human rights organizations concerned with the promotion of press freedom and the protection of journalists and human rights.

The UN Human Rights Council was one of the most prominent international bodies to address the case of Mahmoud, and a team of the Council on Arbitrary Detention concluded that his detention by the Egyptian authorities was arbitrary and violated international laws; the same conclusion was confirmed by Reporters Without Borders.

Robert Kennedy, the human rights organization, filed an individual complaint against the Egyptian authorities before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the Mahmoud case.

Other human rights organizations, led by Human Rights Watch, condemned Hussein's continued detention in pre-trial detention and designated Egypt as one of the worst countries in the prison of journalists.

Prisoner of conscience
Amnesty International also solidified Mahmoud's case as a prisoner of conscience detained for exercising his peaceful right of expression.

The International Institute of Press (IPI) also counted Hussein's continued detention as an egregious violation of press freedom and fundamental human rights.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Egyptian authorities continued to wage a campaign of harassment against Al Jazeera by continuing to arrest Hussein.

Bypass elimination
The Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain said that malicious retaliatory reasons behind the refusal of the Egyptian security services to implement the decision to release Mahmoud Hussein.

The Arab Observatory for Media Freedom had earlier accused the Egyptian authorities of political retaliation against Mahmoud Hussein, after being returned to his custody pending a new case, despite receiving a release from an Egyptian court.

He said that what happened with colleague Mahmoud confirms the absence of law and the Constitution and the independence of the decisions of the Supreme State Security Prosecution; which requires correction and release unconditionally.

On May 21, an Egyptian court decided to release Mahmoud Hussein after nearly 900 days of detention.An appeal court upheld the decision on 23 May, but the Egyptian authorities sent him back to the notorious Tora Prison.He is now completing his 1,000th day behind bars.