A Palestinian man detained in Egypt for a year and a half returned home to the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday, after an early release from prison.
Palestinian sources in Gaza identified the man as Nabil Mansour Al-Basheety, 38, and confirmed that he was the 9th Palestinian to be released from Egyptian prison since the revolution in that country succeeded in ousting former President Hosni Mubarak.
During the revolution, 14 Palestinians were released. All had been detained at the Egypt-Gaza border since 2007.
Al-Basheety was sentenced to 15 years incarceration for involvement with resistance groups, and had been appealing for release.
At least four of the freed Palestinians escaped from Egyptian prisons, when thousands broke out of jails across the country amid an absence of police and chaos sparked by nationwide riots demanding the end of Mubarak's regime.
On their return, many of the prisoners said they were detained without being told what charges were laid against them.
Mu’tasem Al-Quka, jailed seven years in Abu Za’bal prison, escaped in early February. He told Ma'an that many Palestinians were with him in the prison, eight of them from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Source: Maan
