An Egyptian photojournalist jailed since his arrest while he was covering a deadly 2013 raid on protesters is still languishing in prison, even though a judge ordered his release in September.

Mahmoud Abou Zeid’s release — and that of 214 others — has been delayed by six months because the prisoners must first pay for damages and judicial fees, but authorities in Cairo have not determined the amount, said Karim Abdelrady, the 31-year-old photographer’s lawyer.



For the record: An earlier version of this report referred to the organization Reporters Without Borders as Reporters With Borders. This story also states the cost of damages from a security forces raid would have been charged to 215 prisoners. The damages would have been spread among all defendants in the case.

“This is illegal,” Abdelrady said, “because the law says if someone is imprisoned for not paying the fine, they have to first be notified of what the fine is.”