German authorities release detained Al Jazeera journalist
![Ahmed Mansour](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wPmZWQsSaYwYfDY8iq7HRM-594-80.jpg)
After being held by Germany for two days under an Egyptian arrest warrant, Al Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansour, 52, is now free, according to a spokesman from the Berlin prosecutor's office.
Mansour was detained as he tried to board a plane from Berlin to Qatar; last year, Mansour was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia on torture charges. A police spokesman said earlier this week the Egyptian-issued arrest warrant accused Mansour, who has dual British and Egyptian citizenship, of "several crimes," but it did not elaborate on any specific charges. Al Jazeera maintains the claims are false.
Saad Djebbar, one of Mansour's lawyers, told Al Jazeera that while Mansour was happy with the court's decision, he was upset that the journalist was detained in the first place. In a video recorded earlier this week, Mansour said the charges were a "misunderstanding."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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