Freed — but at a price

Two released journalists had spent almost two years behind bars for doing nothing more subversive than doing their job


Editorial September 28, 2015
Al Jazeera news channel's Australian journalist Peter Greste (L) and his colleagues, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (C) and Egyptian Baher Mohammed listen to the verdict inside the defendants cage during their trial for allegedly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood on June 23, 2014 at the police institute near Cairo's Tora prison. PHOTO: AFP

The freeing in Egypt of the two Al Jazeera journalists following a presidential pardoning on the eve of Eid celebrations is welcome — but there are caveats. Mohamed Fahmy, who holds a Canadian passport, and Baher Mohamed had been convicted of “aiding a terrorist organisation” when what they were actually doing as journalists was reporting the activities of Muslim Brotherhood, which is now outlawed by the decree of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt. The case had become an international cause celebre and it had also become a considerable embarrassment to the Egyptian government. The presidential pardon for 100 people prior to Eid is a convenient fig leaf that allows the release of the men without President al-Sisi compromising the independence of the Egyptian judiciary. Still hanging in the air is the status of the convictions of another seven Al Jazeera journalists, who were convicted of the same offence in absentia. They are unable to work to their full potential because they are constrained from reporting in states that have extradition treaties with Egypt.

The group of journalists had been sentenced to terms ranging from three to 10 years, and the last two released had spent almost two years behind bars for doing nothing more subversive than fulfilling their job descriptions. That was enough for the Egyptian government to drop the hammer on them, and although their cases have achieved international prominence and publicity, there are many other members of the media community in Egypt who languish in jail for no other reason than that the government of the day finds their work, at best, inconvenient and at worst worthy of outright repression. It is probably no coincidence that President al-Sisi is due to attend and address the United Nations General Assembly in New York in the coming week. Egypt has a truly lamentable human rights record, not only in respect of press freedoms, and he would not have wished to give his detractors a stick to beat him with. We wish a joyful Eid to the two released men and their families.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2015.

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