Al Jazeera Media Network: The release of our colleague Mahmoud Hussein is a moment of truth and an inspiring milestone towards press freedom.

Al Jazeera journalist, Mahmoud Hussein, was freed today after being arbitrarily detained in an Egyptian prison for more than 1500 days, without formal charges nor trial.

Al Jazeera Media Network welcomes the news of Mahmoud’s freedom and believes that no journalist should ever be subjected to what Mahmoud has suffered for the past four years for merely carrying out his profession.

Today, we are pleased he is finally reunited with his family, after being robbed four years from his life and deprived of his fundamental rights. We wish Mahmoud a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to overcome this past ordeal and start a new chapter in his distinguished career.

While he was incarcerated, Mahmoud had become a symbol of press freedom across the globe. On the day of his release, Al Jazeera calls for the freedom for all journalists who are unjustly imprisoned all around the world. We commend all international human rights organisations, media institutions, journalists for their continuous support and condemnation against the arbitrary detention of Mahmoud Hussein.

On this day, Al Jazeera Media Network extends its gratitude towards those organisations, and all the voices of truth that have called for Mahmoud’s freedom and for the freedom of the press.

Journalism is not a crime.

Dr. Mostefa Souag

Acting Director General | Al Jazeera Media Network