Peter Greste is now free, but there are still 11 journalists left in Egypt’s prisons

CAIRO, Egypt — Peter Greste, one of three Al Jazeera journalists detained in Egypt for more than 400 days, was released yesterday under a new presidential decree that allows the president to deport foreigners who are in prison or on trial.

But Egyptian journalists — 11 of whom were behind bars as of December on charges related to their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists — do not have that option.

There are rumors that Mohamed Fahmy, another journalist in the Al Jazeera English case who has dual Egyptian-Canadian citizenship, will also be deported once he renounces his Egyptian citizenship. On Monday Fahmy's mother wrote an open letter to President Abdel Fataah el-Sisi calling for her son’s release.

“Do you have to give up your Egyptian citizenship to be free?” asked Jehan Rashed, wife of Baher Mohamed, the third detained Al Jazeera journalist.

Speaking to GlobalPost, Rashed says she has not told her children — Fairuz, 3 and Hazem, 4 — the truth about their father's whereabouts.

“I tell them Baba is coming home tomorrow. They say where is Baba? I say he’s at work.” Her youngest, Haroun, is five months old and was born while his father was in jail.

Greste’s family has vowed to continue to campaign for the release of his colleagues.

"He's not going to forget his two other colleagues, there's no doubt that his excitement is tempered and restrained and will be until those guys are free. He won't give up until Baher and Mohamed Fahmy are out of there," Andrew Greste said at a press conference in Brisbane, Australia on Monday.

The detention of the three Al Jazeera English journalists sparked international outrage and a social media campaign aligned around the hashtag #FreeAJEStaff.

But there are nine other journalists in jail in Egypt whose cases do not make international headlines, whose names are not raised by heads of state in meetings with Egyptian officials.

Photojournalists in particular have been increasingly targeted since the army ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Mahmoud Abu Zied, who goes by “Shawkan,” is one of two journalists detained in Egyptian prisons without charge for over a year. The 27-year-old Egyptian photojournalist was arrested in August 2013 at the dispersal of the sit-in at Rabaa el-Adaweya that left hundreds — mostly Muslim Brotherhood supporters — dead.

He was detained alongside two foreign journalists, Louis Jammes, a French photographer, and Mike Giglio, then a correspondent for the US-based Daily Beast. While the two foreigners were released, Shawkan has remained in detention for more than 500 days.

On his 500th day behind bars, Shawkan penned an open letter from prison in which he described life in a three-by-four-meter cell shared with 12 other political prisoners. “The sunset has become a tiny strip though the iron mesh. … I cannot see the sky. … Iron is taking over. … My dreams are becoming narrow. The same as the black hole I am living inside,” he wrote.

"His psychological state is very bad," says Yehia Elcherbini, a close friend who has been spearheading the campaign for his release.

Hunger-striking photojournalist Abdullah El-Shamy was released in June last year on health grounds following a widespread campaign for his freedom.

But most of the detained journalists named by CPJ have no such campaigns supporting them. Two have even gone on hunger strike since their arrests, to little avail in the absence of a public outcry. 

Here are the eight other detainees you don't usually read about:

Mahmoud Abdel Nabi of the Rassd news network was arrested on Jul.3, 2013 while covering clashes between Morsi supporters and the Egyptian army in Alexandria. He is charged with possessing weapons and inciting rioting, both of which he denies. 

Samhi Mustafa and Abdullah al-Fakharny, also with Rassd, and Mohamed al-Adly with Amgad TV were arrested on Aug. 25, 2013 at the pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabaa. They are charged with "spreading chaos" and "forming an operations room to direct the Muslim Brotherhood to defy the government."Their lawyer has denied the charges. 

Ahmed Gamal with online news network Yaqeen was arrested while covering student protests at al-Azhar university on Dec. 28, 2013. He remained in detention without charge as of December 2014. On July 26 last year he sent a letter to a local rights group saying he had been beaten in prison.

Ahmed Fouad of the Karmoz website was jailed on Jan. 25, 2014 covering a demonstration in Alexandria and is charged with "joining a group that aims to disrupt the law," "demonstrating without permission," "blocking a road," and "possessing a weapon."

Abdel Rahman Shaheen, with Freedom and Justice Gate, the official newspaper of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Freedom and Justice Party, was arrested on Apr. 9, 2014 in Suez. In June he was sentenced to three years of jail time and a fine of $1,400 on charges of inciting and committing violence during protests. Rights groups have denied the charges against him and the court did not allow his Shaheen's lawyer to present his case, according to local news reports.

Ayman Saqr with the website Almesryoon was arrested on Nov. 28, 2014 while covering demonstrations in the restive Matareya neighborhood in Cairo. He is has not officially been charged.