An Egyptian-Australian released from a Cairo prison after more than a year without charge has been stopped at the airport and returned to detention.
Australian consular officials escorted Hazem Hamouda to the airport on Thursday after he was finally released from jail, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
But Egyptian authorities refused to let Mr Hamouda leave, citing incorrect documentation and returned him to detention
Mr Hamouda, 55, arrived at Cairo airport on January 25, 2018 for a family holiday but he was detained.
He was put in prison accused of being an associate of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false information via Facebook posts but was never charged.
His family deny the claims against him.
Hazem Hamouda's family at Christmas last year. Source: Supplied
Australian former foreign correspondent Peter Greste, who was also detained by the Egyptian government for more than a year in 2013, said Mr Hamouda's case is "deeply disturbing".
"The fact that he has been held in an Egyptian prison for so long, without trial, and without any obvious evidence has been a travesty from the outset," Mr Greste says in a statement.
He called on the Australian government use every tool to get Mr Houmada returned to his family in Brisbane.
"As we learned in my case, sometimes there is a need to turn up the volume to loudly defend the rights of an Australian citizen and demand that our government do everything they can to secure safe passage."
DFAT says it is continuing to work closely with Mr Hamouda and his family.
