CAIRO, Oct 9 (Aswat Masriya) - Shortly after an Egyptian criminal court renewed the detention of Mahmoud Hussein for 45 days on Thursday for wearing an anti-torture T-shirt, Amnesty International published a letter from Cairo's Torah prison saying it was recently written by him.

Hussein was arrested with Islam Talaat in 2014 on the anniversary of the January uprising for wearing shirts emblazoned with the words "nation without torture", according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression's (AFTE) official website.

"I was arrested at the age of 18. I remain in detention, and in January I will be turning 20," said the letter. "I don’t even know when my detention is going to end, nor why I was arrested in the first place. I don’t even know what case they have against me, since I have spent all this time in jail without charge or trial. When will this period end? As long as they view me as an accused person, it may not."

In the letter,  Hussein wondered whether he will ever enjoy celebrating annual occasions with his family and friends again.

The court's decision to renew their detention means that the two students, aged 19 and 21, will reach 666 days of incarceration. The prosecution had accused them of belonging to a terrorist organisation, possessing explosives and inciting violence.

He "has been tortured and ill-treated in detention, and his pre-trial detention order has been renewed ever since," said Amnesty's official website about Hussein. 

His letter continued: "Will I be tried for the sake of a goal, or an idea, or a dream that so many of us have dreamed since the “25 January Revolution” of 2011? I dreamed and so many youths dreamed with me that oppression, torture and the killing of youths would end."

Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for Hussein's immediate release, describing him as a "prisoner of conscience detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly."