Anti-torture T-shirt detainee released after more than 2 years in jail

After spending two years and nearly two months in jail, 20 year-old Mahmoud Mohamed – popularly known as the "T-shirt detainee" – was released from detention on Tuesday with a LE1,000 fine, pursuant to an order from South Cairo Criminal Court.

It is unclear whether or not prosecutors will appeal the decision.

Aged 18 at the time of his arrest, Mahmoud Mohamed was detained at a police checkpoint while riding a microbus on January 25, 2014 – the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising – for wearing a T-shirt with an anti-torture slogan and a scarf commemorating the revolution.

Mahmoud's older brother, Tito, celebrated his release from detention with a post on his Twitter account. He described his brother as “a child of the January 25 Revolution,” stating that the state had considered him a “terrorist” and “enemy of the nation.”

Mahmoud Mohamed had been incarcerated in Tora Prison – without trial or official criminal charge – for nearly two months beyond the maximum two-year period allotted to pretrial detention by Egyptian law.

Tito claimed that his younger brother's health had suffered in prison, adding that he was rarely granted authorization to visit Mahmoud in prison.  

Over the past two years, international and local rights organizations, including Amnesty International, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and Human Rights Watch, have vehemently demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Mahmoud Mohamed from prison.