An Egyptian cartoonist, whose work is occasionally critical of government figures, is released pending investigations into his alleged operation of a webpage without a license, his lawyer says.
The Sunday arrest of Islam Gaweesh in the capital, Cairo, appeared to be part of a government clampdown on activists and journalists. In recent months, many have been detained, questioned and even forcibly disappeared.
“We don’t believe the charge will lead to a full-blown trial … (Gaweesh) has a license,” Gaweesh’s lawyer, Mahmoud Othman, tells The Associated Press.
Gaweesh was undeterred by his brief stint in custody, according to Othman. The cartoonist “believes in his the right to draw. He was not afraid then and he is not afraid now,” he says.
After the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, the government launched a crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds of protesters and jailing thousands of Morsi’s supporters and young pro-democracy activists.
— AP
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