The second hearing in the trial of the 739 defendants facing charges related to the “Rabaa sit-in” in Egypt, a trial that includes the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) will be held in a few hours on Tuesday, June 28, tomorrow.

Today it was announced that the National Press Club in Washington, DC, will honor Shawkan with one of this year’s two 2016 John Aubuchon Press Freedom awards. NPC President Thomas Burr said, “Shawkan’s case exemplifies the draconian way Egyptian authorities have cracked down on the press. Egypt is one of the world’s top jailers of news professionals, and the situation there is not improving.”

Because there are so many defendants, the trial is being conducted in a special building constructed for mass trials. It is outside Tora Prison near Cairo.

For two years, Shawkan was held without knowing what the charges against him are; in March, he and his lawyers finally learned that he faces nine charges that range from “joining a criminal gang” to “murder.” From the moment he was arrested on August 14, 2013, till March of this year, he did not know that he faces execution if he is convicted. Charged with murder, Mahmoud Abu Zeid is in a fight for his life. For taking photos.

He has been in jail for almost three years now.
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Mahmoud Abou Zeid, the Egyptian photographer known as Shawkan, had an opportunity to speak on his own behalf in court today. He is the individual in white holding a microphone and addressing the panel of judges in the above photo. Shawkan’s case was postponed, yet again, this time until May 31.

“I’m in prison because I was doing my job,” Shawkan told the court. Today was the first time that Shawkan was able to address the court. Shawkan was arrested more than 1000 days ago while covering a protest—the Rabaa sit-in—that was a part of Egypt’s portion of demonstrations during the vast Arab Spring movement. He was arrested in a round-up of hundreds of people, and as a result, he is one of more than 700 co-defendants awaiting the start of his trial.

President al-Sisi’s government (and its jurisprudential system) has made it clear that it considers that job, journalism, to be a criminal enterprise. Several dozen are in jail in that nation right now; to the best of my knowledge, Shawkan has been held the longest: 1011 days today.

In the video below the fold, Shawkan speaks with the judges. At one point, he gestures toward the television and news cameras as if to say, “I should be with them covering hearings like this.”
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