This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Amnesty International has reiterated its call for the Egyptian government to release the prominent photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, popularly known as “Shawkan”.

He has been in detention for more than three years since he was arrested while taking photographs of a sit-in by thousands of people, mainly supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, in a Cairo square.

Amnesty has accompanied its call by launching an exhibition of Shawkan’s photographs, which illustrate both protests and daily life in Egypt. They will be on display at Amnesty’s Human Rights Action Centre in Shoreditch, east London from 28 November to 16 December.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), Shawkan’s plight will be marked as part of Amnesty’s annual media Awards ceremony.

Shawkan has been in jail since 14 August 2013. He was photographing the sit-in at Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, which was held in protest at Morsi’s ousting by the military the previous month.

Security forces stormed the sit-in using bullets and tear gas, in the process killing more than 700 people. Shawkan – who features in Amnesty’s Write for Rights campaign – pictured the events as they unfolded. When they discovered he was a journalist, police arrested him, tying his hands with plastic cables that cut through his skin, and beat him.

Shawkan now faces nine false charges, including “joining a criminal gang” and “murder”. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Amnesty International’s UK director, Kate Allen, said: “Shawkan’s arrest and detention is totally unjustified and a flagrant breach of Egypt’s own laws. His only ‘crime’ was to take photographs at a public demonstration.

“No journalist should ever be jailed for doing their job and taking photographs is not a crime. Shawkan’s detention is three years too long. It’s time for his immediate and unconditional release, and the authorities should drop all charges against him.

“Egypt’s crackdown on the media did not begin and end with the Al-Jazeera case. Tragically, scores of journalists remain behind bars, and Shawkan’s awful situation shows how press freedom is now a distant memory in Egypt.

“We reiterate our call on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Shawkan and all the other journalists who are behind bars in Egypt simply for doing their job.”