The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed deep concern over the prolonged trial of detained photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid "Shawkan" in a Friday statement, following a decision by the Cairo Criminal Court to adjourn his session to 4 April. "The Egyptian government's treatment of Shawkan has been one outrage after the other," said CPJ's senior Middle East and North Africa Research Associate Jason Stern. Shawkan has been in detention since 14 August 2013 after being arrested while on the job, covering the notorious dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in. He completed 900 days behind bars on 31 January. The photojournalist spent over 700 days in pre-trial detention, for which the maximum period is set to two years, according to the Penal Code. However Shawkan's fate remained unknown for over a week following the end of the legal remand period, according to his defence lawyers. It was not until mid-September that the court referral order was made public. It included Shawkan as the only photojournalist among 739 defendants, all facing charges of disrupting national security through violence, murder, attacking security forces and civilians, engaging in armed conflicts and destroying public facilities. The case, publicly known as the "Rabaa dispersal trial", includes the highest number of defendants since mass political trials for Muslim Brotherhood members started taking place following the 30 June uprising in 2013. Shawkan's family, journalists and human rights activists also advocated and demanded his immediate release. Judge Hassan Farid continues to postpone the trial under the pretext of lack of space at court to receive the large number of suspects.
