Prominent photographer gets five-year jail-term

An Egyptian court has handed a five-year jail sentence to prominent photo-journalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid who this year received Unesco's World Freedom Prize. Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, was arrested in August 2013 as he covered deadly clashes in Cairo between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. A report on the News24 site notes that he was accused of ‘murder and membership of a terrorist organisation’ – charges that can carry the death penalty – but should be released after already having spent five years in jail. Legalbrief reports that there are 12 journalists imprisoned in Egypt, one of the highest rates in the world.

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