Egypt’s prosecutor-general has ordered the release of a journalist days after she was arrested in the country’s south, amid outcry from international press freedom advocates.
“The prosecutor-general has ordered the release of the defendant Basma Mostafa after she was questioned on the charges laid against her,” the prosecution said in a statement overnight Monday into Tuesday, adding that the investigation would continue.
Prosecutors had accused her of “using her personal social media account to publish and promote false news,” the statement says.
Mostafa, a freelance journalist, was brought before prosecutors on Sunday.
She was arrested the day before while attempting to report on the alleged police killing of a man in the wake of small-scale demonstrations last month near the southern city of Luxor, according to Al-Manassa news website, where she is a regular contributor.
— AFP
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