Court orders release of Al-Jazeera journalist detained in Egypt since 2016

Mahmoud Hussein, the Al-Jazeera journalist who was detained in 2016 on allegations of spreading false news and defaming Egypt's reputation will be released from prison, the Doha-based broadcaster reported on Thursday. Hussein, an Egyptian journalist working for the Qatar-based satellite network, was detained at the Cairo airport in December 2016, when he arrived on a family vacation from Doha.

No official charges were ever raised against him and Hussein didn't stand trial. The Doha-based Al-Jazeera reported the news on its website Thursday, saying Hussein "was arrested without formal charges and kept in prison for 881 days." His daughter, Az-Zahra Hussein, said on Facebook that her father will be released "with precautionary measures" — likely meaning he'll have to report regularly to police — and that he's soon to be transferred from prison to a police station.