A Canadian journalist who was released from prison in Egypt this fall says he has asked authorities in that country to restore the citizenship he renounced in hopes of regaining his freedom.
Mohamed Fahmy says authorities convinced him late last year that giving up his Egyptian citizenship would speed up his release, while assuring him he could reapply for it at a later date.
Fahmy, who now lives in Vancouver, says he is following through as a “matter of principle.”
WATCH: Mohamed Fahmy arrives in Vancouver
He also says he plans to go back to Egypt one day and report from there, and feels he shouldn’t need a visa to do so.
Fahmy was arrested in 2013 with two Al-Jazeera English colleagues on terror-related charges.
READ MORE: Formerly imprisoned Fahmy says he feared losing Canadian citizenship
He was sentenced to three years in prison in a retrial this year for airing what a court described as “false news” and coverage biased in favour of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
The case was widely condemned. He and his Egyptian co-defendant, Baher Mohammed, received a presidential pardon in September. The other colleague, Australian Peter Greste, was previously released.
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