Briton arrested in Egypt on spying charges announces he’s free
Muhammed Fathi AbulKasem was held for two weeks after shooting video from plane window that accidentally included footage of military helicopter
A British-Libyan tourist said Egyptian authorities have released him two weeks after he was arrested over a video he filmed on his cellphone that showed a military helicopter in the background.
Muhammed Fathi AbulKasem announced his release in an audio message posted on YouTube on December 8.
He said, “I’m not ready to talk right now, but I feel I owe you, due to your support, to inform you I’m out.” He said he was held in “an Egyptian hellhole.”
AbulKasem was arrested shortly after arriving in Alexandria on November 21 from neighboring Libya “on suspicion of collecting information against the military.”
He had used his phone to film from his flight’s window and accidentally captured footage of a military helicopter, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported Monday.
His cousin Shareen Nawaz said in a Facebook post that AbulKasem was “cleared of all of the ridiculous charges,” without elaborating.