CAIRO, Nov. 12 (Aswat Masriya) - Amnesty International gathered the signatures of nearly 145,000 people from 138 countries in a petition calling for "the immediate and unconditional release" of 19-year-old student detained for wearing an anti-torture T-shirt in Egypt, said an Amnesty statement Thursday. 

Mahmoud Mohamed Hussein has been in jail since 2014, when he was arrested in the third anniversary of the January uprising for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "nation without torture". He has been in jail for more than 600 days.

Amnesty sent a petition to Egypt's public prosecutor with a total of 144,593 signatures to release Hussein who is due in court on Nov. 16 where the judge will either renew his detention order or release him.

According to Amnesty International's statement, Hussein has not been formally charged or tried for any crimes.

Other local rights groups including the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) and the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) have called for his release.

The prosecution however had accused Hussein of belonging to a terrorist organisation, possessing explosives and inciting violence.

In a letter published in October by Amnesty, Hussein said that "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."

Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for the immediate release of Mahmoud Mohamed, describing him as a "prisoner of conscience".