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An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced to five years' imprisonment the award-winning photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid and confirmed the death sentence of 75 people in one of the most important trials since the 2011 uprising.
Abu Zeid, better known as Shawkan, who received the UNESCO World Freedom Prize earlier this year, is expected to be released soon, his lawyer said.
Shawkan was arrested in August 2013 while covering deadly clashes in Cairo between security forces and supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
He was accused of "murder and belonging to a terrorist organization" – charges that could carry the death penalty – but has already spent five years in prison.
Shawkan should be able to get out of prison "in a few days," said his lawyer Karim Abdelrady, welcoming the verdict.
Smiling in the dock, the photojournalist made a "V" for the sign of victory to reporters.
But Abdelrady added that the sentence was still "unfair because he (Shawkan) was only doing his job," covering the events that were taking place in the Egyptian capital five years ago.
The lawyer said that he would launch a new legal offer to recognize the innocence of his client.
Shawkan was one of 739 defendants tried in the same case, most of them being accused of killing police and vandalizing property during the clashes.
His detention has provoked outrage among human rights groups and NGOs who have lobbied for his release.
On Thursday, Amnesty International and the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organized a joint rally in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Paris to demand his release.
Amnesty International issued a statement warning the Egyptian judicial authorities: "The world is watching you".
A photo of Shawkan – behind bars with his hands in front of his face imitating the holding of a camera – has long circulated on social networks.
– 75 death sentences confirmed –
RSF ranks Egypt 161st out of 180 countries for its press freedom index and says that at least 31 journalists are currently detained in the most populous country in the Arab world.
The same court that handed Shawkan a five-year term on Saturday also confirmed the death sentences initially handed down in July against 75 defendants, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Morsi.
Among them are Mohamed El-Baltagui, Issam al-Aryan and Safwat Hijazi.
Of the 75 defendants facing the death penalty, 44 were on the dock while the others were tried in absentia.
Forty-seven were sentenced to life imprisonment, 347 to 15 years and 22 to 10 years.
Five-year terms were given to 215 people.
The court also sentenced Morsi's son, Ossama, to 10 years in prison.
On August 14, 2013, one of the bloodiest days in modern history of Egypt, a month after the military ousted Morsi, police dispersed a protest camp Islamist sprawling on Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo.
About 700 people were killed in a few hours in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda Square, where another sit-in was held.
Hundreds more were killed in street clashes with the police in the following months and mass arrests were made.
In a statement, Amnesty International condemned the death sentences handed down on Saturday and the "heavy" jail sentences resulting from what he described as "shameful mass trials".
The rights monitoring body has requested a new trial before an "impartial tribunal".
He said the judgments were "a travesty of justice" because "no police officer has been implicated".
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch said that at least 40,000 people were arrested the first year after the ouster of Morsi on July 3, 2013.
Egyptian courts have sentenced hundreds of people to the death penalty or to long prison terms after other fast mass lawsuits, including Morsi and several leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The former head of the armed forces, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, won the presidency in 2014 after leading the ouster of Morsi following mass demonstrations against the Islamist regime.
Sisi was reelected with 97% of the vote in a March vote against a single opponent widely regarded as a symbolic challenger, critics claiming that the president had carried out a widespread crackdown on dissent.
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, better known as Shawkan, imitates once again taking a photo, this time in a glass pier during his trial in Cairo on September 8, 2018
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (2nd L), better known as Shawkan, is photographed in a glass pier during his trial in the capital city of Cairo on September 8, 2018.
The audience room and the glass dock during the trial of 700 defendants, including Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, better known as Shawkan, in the capital city of Cairo on September 8, 2018
The audience room and the glass dock during the trial of 700 defendants, including Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, better known as Shawkan, in the capital city of Cairo on September 8, 2018
