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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