Shawkan

Shawkan Is Spared a New Sentence

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Mahmoud Abu Zeid, an Egyptian photojournalist who goes by the name “Shawkan,” learned today that his next hearing will be on Tuesday, March 21. And then chaos broke out in the courtroom.

The hearings in the trial of the more than 700 individuals detained in the aftermath of the government’s violent break-up of the Rabaa sit-in protest have unfolded in a logistically trying fashion. After the court’s judges announced the latest postponement, most of the defendants started to chant in unison that the court was unfair, that the session was invalid.

The panel of judges immediately found 700 of the defendants (almost the entire group) guilty of “insulting the judicial system,” and it sentenced each defendant to one year in jail with forced labor added. Shawkan was one of a mere twenty defendants who was not given the new, additional one-year sentence.
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Hope for Shawkan?

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Mahmoud Abu Zeid, an Egyptian photojournalist who goes by the name “Shawkan,” learned today that his next hearing will be on Saturday, February 25, and that the court will inspect his medical records.

As the hearings in the trial of the more than 700 individuals detained in the aftermath of the government’s violent break-up of the Rabaa sit-in protest unfold, every so often several detainees are released for “medical reasons.” Shawkan’s deteriorating health began to qualify him for a release under medical grounds at least two years ago, but his detention continues, three-and-a-half years after his arrest.

Perhaps the news that medical tests were ordered is the break in Shawkan’s story that he and his international community of supporters have long waited for.

(The photo at the top is the most recent cover of the United Nations Association – UK’s magazine. Shawkan is on the cover of its “Facts Still Matter” issue, which was published in December 2016.)
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Justice Delayed Once Again for Shawkan

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Mahmoud Abu Zeid, an Egyptian photojournalist who goes by the name “Shawkan,” learned today that his trial was once again postponed, this time until Tuesday, February 7. Ten prisoners, co-defendants with Shawkan, were released today for medical reasons. Shawkan’s deteriorating health began to qualify him for a release under medical grounds two years ago, but his detention continues, three-and-a-half years after his arrest.
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