CAIRO, Nov 5 (Aswat Masriya) - Egyptian authorities released on Wednesday evening former Presidential Spokesman Yasser Ali after spending almost a year in jail.

A Cairo misdemeanour court sentenced Ali to six months in prison on Saturday for assisting former Prime Minister Hisham Qandil in escaping and evading judicial prosecution. He was released from custody having already served more than his prison term in jail.

The former spokesperson, who was appointed by ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2012, was also charged with joining the "terrorist" Muslim Brotherhood organisation.

Ibrahim Hamami, Ali's lawyer, told Aswat Masriya that the defendant is not wanted pending any other cases.

Ali was arrested on December 31, 2013. He served as the coordinator of Mursi's presidential campaign in 2012, and was appointed as the official spokesperson for the presidency until February 2013. He was later appointed head of the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).

The sentenced spokesman resigned on June 21, 2014, citing the country's "critical situation" as the reason for his resignation.

He was referred to criminal court on August 23 along with 12 other co-defendants.