(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Al Jazeera Media Network has reiterated its call for the immediate release of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, who has now undergone 600 days in detention without trial or any official charge in Egypt despite his completion of the statutory maximum period of detention permitted in a pre-trial arrest.
In a statement yesterday, the network said the detention has been condemned across the globe by rights groups and international institutions, including the United Nations, who continue to call for Mahmoud's release.
Mahmoud's detention has been continuously renewed by the Egyptian authorities since his arrest in December 2016 upon arrival in Cairo on a holiday with his family, the statement notes.
Reiterating its condemnation of Mahmoud's arrest, the network said: 'Al Jazeera is grateful to all international rights groups and media freedom organisations that continue in their efforts for the release of Mahmoud.
The network calls on all those concerned with media freedom to take an active part in denouncing Mahmoud's continuous detention on social media (#freemahmoudhussein) and to put pressure on the Egyptian authorities to release Mahmoud Hussein and end his ordeal.
The statement further notes that Al Jazeera's international campaign, ‘Demand Press Freedom' (#demandpressfreedom), highlighting media freedom for news institutions and for journalists such as Mahmoud, has had high engagement from social media across the world.
Al Jazeera's journalists and correspondents have been a target of the Egyptian authorities since 2013.
Many of them have faced trumped up charges, imprisonment, ill treatment and denial of the benefit of fair trial, besides being sentenced in absentia to imprisonment and the death penalty.
'Al Jazeera reaffirms continued support for all its journalists and employees and its commitment to its mission and adherence to its Code of Ethics to report news and developments in Egypt and elsewhere objectively and professionally.
Al Jazeera also condemns the intimidation and arrest of any journalist as a result of carrying out their professional work, the network added.
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