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March 6, 2019

Egypt: Noted Photojournalist Shawkan Released After 5 Years in Jail
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In Egypt, authorities released award-winning photojournalist Mahmoud
Abou Zeid-better known as Shawkan-on Monday, after five years in prison.
Shawkan was arrested while covering a violent crackdown on a 2013
protest in Cairo following the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.
Security forces killed hundreds of protesters at the demonstration.
Shawkan was tried and sentenced alongside hundreds of other defendants
in a mass trial that was widely condemned by human rights groups. This
is Shawkan speaking after his release.

Shawkan: "The first night is the hardest. You are sleeping in jail. It
is a long night. You are kidnapped from your life and forced in a place.
It is a long night. Day after day, though, you get used to it. … I am
not the first journalist to be arrested or killed. And I will not be the
last. This is our job."



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