Egypt releases Basma Mostafa, detained for covering Luxor protests

Egypt has released a journalist arrested for covering the protests in Luxor following Awais Al-Rawy’s death.

Awais Al-Rawy was killed at the beginning of this month by police who shot him in the head after he objected to them insulting his father.

His death in the Al-Awamiyah area of Luxor spurred on anti-regime demonstrations which have taken place since 20 September, mainly in rural areas across the country.

Al-Awamiyah was placed under strict control by security services who conducted a wide arrest operation in an attempt to quell the protests against the government’s house demolition campaign.

Al-Manassa, who Basma Mostafa works as a correspondent for, said their last contact with the journalist was at 11.15am on Saturday when she told them a policeman had asked to see her ID card and then followed her down the street.

READ: Despite protests, thousands of Egyptians still face house demolitions

The Luxor Police Department then denied knowing where she was until she appeared in front of the Supreme State Security Prosecution on Sunday accused of publishing false news.

Mostafa’s detention sparked an international outcry with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stating it was “clear retaliation for covering news that the Egyptian government wants to suppress.”

The journalist had recently reported on the death of Islam the Australian in police custody and the crackdown on witnesses of the Fairmont Hotel gang rape case.

Mostafa’s husband is a human rights lawyer who represents a number of detained reporters and human rights advocates in Egypt.

The International Press Institute in Vienna labelled Mostafa’s detention “outrageous” and said that the international community was turning “a blind eye to the gross press freedom and human rights violations in Egypt.”

It says Egypt has waged an “aggressive campaign” against the independent media. More than 60 journalists remain in detention.

According to the CPJ Egypt is the third worst jailer of journalists globally, after China and Turkey.

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