A United States citizen who spent more than one year in an Egyptian prison was released on Monday and returned to New Jersey.
Mohamed Amashah, a 24-year-old medical student, was released “after 486 days of arbitrary detention” and “returned home to Jersey City, New Jersey to be with his loved ones,” according to an announcement from the Freedom Initiative, a human rights organization that lobbied for his release while he was detained in Egypt.
Mohamed Soltan, the president of the Freedom Initiative and a former Egyptian political prisoner, told CNN that it “was priceless” to see Amashah’s family upon his return. The Freedom Initiative thanked the State Department for assisting in the effort to release Amashah.
“We at the Freedom Initiative, his family and friends are ecstatic about his release and return home and would like to extend our deepest appreciation to the members of Congress, civil society organizations, the State Department, the National Security Council and the Vice President’s office for championing Mohamed Amashah’s case,” the group wrote.
Amashah was at a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo when he was arrested. During the protests, he carried a sign that read: “Freedom for all prisoners.” Authorities arrested Amashah and charged him with helping a terrorist group and misusing social media while at the protests.
While he was behind bars, Amashah began a hunger strike in protest of his arrest. It is unclear if his hunger strike, which began in March 2020, was still ongoing when he was released.
A State Department representative thanked the Egyptian government for its “cooperation in [Amashah’s] repatriation.” The Freedom Initiative stated that it hopes Amashah’s release leads to the release of other prisoners in Egypt.
“[Amashah’s] release is welcomed progress and a step forward in the right direction that we hope is built on for the release of other political prisoners in Egypt, including American citizens,” it said.
