Egyptian rights journalist Hossam Bahgat freed

Egyptian investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat was released from the custody of military prosecution on Tuesday, two days after his detention on charges of publishing false news aimed at harming national security, state-owned Ahram Online reported.

The Mada Masr website said Bahgat, 37, was questioned for almost nine hours and then taken to the prosecutor’s office.

But on Tuesday, Bahgat suddenly called his friends to say he was outside the military intelligence building after being released.

Bahgat’s legal status however remained unclear and it was not known if he would face a military trial, his lawyer added.

After being questioned, Bahgat was arrested and transferred to the military prosecutor, security sources said.

Amnesty global released a statement saying that Bahgat’s interrogation “is a clear signal of the Egyptian authorities’ resolve to continue with their ferocious onslaught against independent journalism and civil society”.

The article described the conviction in August of a group of military officers on charges of conspiring with the banned Muslim Brotherhood to plot a coup against President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

His detention, however, has invited a storm of criticism at home and aboard, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for his release. That article was based on official documents, including the military prosecutor’s indictment, and interviews with the military officers’ families.

Abou Zeid said it was “important for all to remember” that Egyptian law considers a defendant innocent until proven guilty and that Bahgat’s detention is pending an investigation “which his lawyer was allowed to participate in, out of respect for his constitutional right”.

Egypt has been cracking down on various Islamists and other secular activists.

“We are working as usual”, she said.

The worldwide Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) also demanded that Bahgat be freed, claiming that his arrest is part of the Sisi government’s “ongoing crackdown on journalists and demonstrators”.