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Nelson native released in Egypt

Nelson-born filmmaker John Greyson has been released from jail in Egypt, but isn't yet being allowed to return home.
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Filmmaker John Greyson has been released from custody in Egypt but is not yet being allowed to return home.

A Nelson-born filmmaker has been released from jail in Egypt.

John Greyson, 53, has been kept in a crowded cell without charge since August 16 along with fellow Canadian Tarek Loubani, an emergency ward doctor. The two were headed to Gaza but forced to remain in Cairo where they were arrested during violent demonstrations over the imprisonment of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.

The faculty association at York University, where Greyson is a professor, campaigned for the Egyptian government to release him. Greyson and Loubani began a hunger strike September 16.

The Canadian government announced Saturday that the pair had been released after 51 days, but they weren't able to fly to Frankfurt because they remain on Egypt's no-fly list. CBC reported Monday that the pair may not be allowed to leave until an investigation concludes.

Greyson was born in Nelson but raised in London, Ontario and has lived in Toronto since 1980.



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