Ahmed al-Najdi, an Al Jazeera journalist, was released by Egyptian authorities after more than two years of detention without charge.
Al-Najdi, a staff member of Al Jazeera Mubasher, the network's Arabic-language live television division, was freed on Sunday. He had been held since 2020 August.
Al-Najdi stated shortly after the Egyptian journalist's release that he thought the man was "on [his] way to the grave" due to the fact that his health had been declining.
Al-Najdi claimed that his initial spell of imprisonment was "extremely difficult" since he was refused access to healthcare and that he has diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic ailments.
The journalist added that he had only appeared before the Egyptian judiciary three times during his detention, without being given the chance to make any statements.
He had originally been arrested while he was in Egypt on holiday, and was questioned about his work for Al Jazeera, according to rights groups. He was accused of membership in a “terrorist” group and spreading “false news”.
Egypt has been criticised by human rights groups for crackdowns on journalists and the opposition.
Al Jazeera Media Network had previously demanded that Egyptian authorities release al-Najdi along with three of his colleagues who had also been detained “without trial or charge”: Hisham Abdel Aziz, Bahauddin Ibrahim and Rabie el-Sheikh.
Two of them, Aziz and Ibrahim, had been arrested before al-Najdi, in June 2019 and February 2020 respectively. El-Sheikh was arrested in August 2021, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). They have been accused of “membership of a banned group” and “spreading false information”.
Al-Najdi has now appealed to Egyptian authorities to release his colleagues, calling on those who worked to facilitate his release, to “work even harder” to get them free. He added that their physical and mental health was suffering in detention.
Al-Najdi’s release came days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi concluded a two-day visit to Qatar, where he met the Gulf state’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
It was el-Sisi’s first visit to Qatar since he became Egypt’s president in 2014 following a military coup.
The visit followed a trip by Sheikh Tamim to Egypt in June and suggests warming ties between the two countries.