Apr 23, 2018

Detained Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, will be awarded UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations' cultural body said Monday.

Shawkan was arrested in August 2013 as he covered deadly clashes in Cairo between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

He is one of 700 defendants facing charges of killing police and vandalising property during the clashes.

"The choice of Mahmoud Abu Zeid pays tribute to his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression," said Maria Ressa, head of the UNESCO jury which is awarding the prize.

Egypt's foreign affairs ministry on Sunday voiced its "profound regret that an organisation with the status of UNESCO would honour a person accused of terrorist and criminal acts".