The family and legal team of Brisbane resident Hazem Hamouda have called on the Australian government to ensure the Australian-Egyptian citizen's safe travel home, after he was .
Lawyers acting on behalf of Mr Hamouda said on Monday they had raised concerns with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) about the amount of Australian government support provided to the 55-year-old as he prepares to leave Egypt.
"That's why we are making a bit of noise now, to make sure the Australian government and the embassy in Cairo do provide the diplomatic protection that we are seeking," Mr Hamouda's daughter, Lamisse Hamouda, told SBS News on Tuesday.
"Over the 14 months that we've been going through this process with dad, political action around dad's case has been lacking and it's been a lot of effort to continue to push the Australian authorities to lift their game in terms of providing the support that we are seeking."
Hazem Hamouda's family at Christmas last year. Source: Supplied
Mr Hamouda was first detained in January 2018, when he arrived at Cairo airport for a holiday with his family. Just minutes after touching down, the father of six was taken away by Egyptian security and accused of associating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false information via Facebook - claims denied by his family.
The father of six spent the next year locked in a cell with 13 other men at the notorious Tora prison.
"They share one squat toilet which dad says has never been cleaned, and all sleep on the floor because there are no beds," Ms Hamouda said earlier this year.
Mr Hamouda was released from prison on March 6 this year but was .
Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer Robinson, acting on behalf of Mr Hamouda, compared his treatment to that of Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was also imprisoned in Egypt in 2013.
"Australia can and should exercise diplomatic protection over Hazem, as an Australian citizen," they said in a statement on Monday.
Evelyn and Hazem Hamouda. Source: Supplied
"At a minimum, Australia should provide Hazem with the same level of support that was provided to Peter Greste, a fellow Australian citizen."
An Egyptian-Australian dual citizen, Mr Hamouda has taken steps to renounce his Egyptian citizenship with the hopes of encouraging further support from the government.
"I know that in our case, we realised that I wasn't free until I was completely out of Egyptian judicial control and that meant not just out of prison, not just even out of immigration, but away from Egyptian airspace," Mr Greste, who spent 400 days in Tora prison, said.
"We’ve done our part, as much as we can ... but we don't want to be surprised," she said. "That's why we are seeking the intervention of the Australian authorities, just to make sure that nothing else will go wrong."
She said they were now looking for a solid commitment from the government with "a clear outline of exactly what they are going to do and provide".
DFAT has been contacted for comment.
