<p>CAIRO — Egyptian authorities Tuesday released a university professor and activist after he spent more than a year in pre-trail detention, his lawyer said.</p>
<p>Hazem Hosny, a political science professor at Cairo University, arrived at his home in Cairo a day after a prosecutor ordered his conditional release. Hosny was set free pending an investigation into allegations he disseminated false news and joined an outlawed group, his lawyer, Khalid Ali, said.</p>
<p>Hosny was a spokesman for the 2018 presidential campaign of Sami Annan, who served as chief of staff for former president Hosni Mubarak. Hosny was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/aee250fd973b4628aed4f95fcd63d638">arrested in September 2019</a> following small but rare anti-government protests. Hundreds were arrested at the time, but many were released.</p>
<p>Hosny is required to stay at home as part of his conditional release, Ali said.</p>
<p>Egyptian authorities have in recent years launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of people, mainly Islamists, but also several well-known secular activists.</p>
