The Cairo Criminal Court released Mohamed Rabie Al-Zawahiri, the brother of the current leader of Al-Qaeda Ayman Al-Zawahiri, following the deterioration of his health.
In a press statement issued yesterday, Judge Hassan Farid said Al-Zawahiri had been placed “under house arrest”.
Under the terms of his release, Al-Zawahiti is not permitted to leave his house “without permission from the police” and must appear before the court every 45 days until the end of his trial.
Egyptian lawyers felt that the release of Al-Zawahiri was “due to fears that he may die in prison”.
The Egyptian security forces arrested Al-Zawahiri in mid-August 2013, days after the dispersal of the Rabaa and El-Nahda sit-ins. He was detained on charges of “forming a terrorist organisation” which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda, targeting state enterprises, the armed forces, the police and Coptic citizens with the aim of spreading chaos and putting society at risk.
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