Story highlights Hijazi has been in detention on child abuse and human trafficking charges for three years

Lawyer says Obama and Trump administrations played "critical" role in case

(CNN) A Cairo court on Sunday acquitted Egyptian-American aid worker Aya Hijazi of child abuse and human trafficking charges after she had spent nearly three years behind bars.

"I feel like the mother of a bride today," Hijazi's mother, Naglaa Hosny, said.

Hijazi and her seven co-defendants -- including her husband Mohamed Hassanein -- worked for a foundation dedicated to aiding Cairo's street children until May 2014 when its offices were raided.

They were accused of child abuse and human trafficking and have remained in detention since. The other defendants were also found not guilty.

Hijazi's case has garnered international attention over the years -- Human Rights Watch called it a "travesty of justice" in a report released last month and argued that there was virtually no evidence to support the prosecution.

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