CAIRO, Nov 20 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt's prosecution has appealed on Sunday a court decision to release journalist and researcher Ismail Alexandrani, according to lawyer Mokhtar Mounir.

An Egyptian court has ordered on Sunday the release of Alexandrani pending investigation after spending over 350 days in pre-trail detention, before the prosecution appealed the decision, blocking his release.

The internationally acclaimed researcher, an expert on Sinai affairs, has been detained since Nov. 29, 2015 when he was arrested at Egypt's Hurghada airport upon his return from a U.S. and Europe seminar tour.

His pre-trial detention has been continuously renewed since then.

He was accused of spreading false news aiming at damaging the national interest and disturbing the public peace and joining the now banned Muslim Brotherhood group, all of which he denied. 

Several international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have condemned the detention of Alexandrani and called for his release. 

The 32-year-old researcher was nominated in October, along with 22 other journalists, for the 2016 Reporters Without Borders-TV5 Monde Prize for Press Freedom.