Egyptian cartoonist Islam Gawish released

Monday 01-02-2016 10:11 PM
Egyptian cartoonist Islam Gawish released
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CAIRO, Feb 1 (Aswat Masriya) – Egyptian prosecutors ordered the release of cartoonist Islam Gawish on Monday, with no charges filed against him. 

Gawish was questioned Monday morning on accusations of publishing without license on "al-Warka" Facebook page, lawyer Mahmoud Osman told Aswat Masriya.

Osman, who is also a lawyer at the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression, was among the lawyers who were present with Gawish at the prosecutor's office.

Gawish was questioned about his relation to managing a news website but inquiries revealed that his work at the website was only limited to artistic and technical content, Osman said.  

The young cartoonist was arrested on Sunday while at his office in an information technology company in Cairo.

Gawish runs a Facebook page, "al-Warka", which features satirical content and points to social and political issues. The page has more than 1.5 million likes.

"Al-Warka" announced the suspension of all "art work" because of Gawish's arrest, in a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday. 

After news of his arrest came out, friends of Gawish showered him with statements of solidarity. Twitter and Facebook users circulated hashtags in support of Gawish and many expressed their disdain at his arrest.

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