‘Mild’ help from feds frustrated Fahmy
In the midst of a heated federal election campaign, a journalist who fought terror charges in Egypt for nearly two years will be returning to Canada with a message for all parties — Ottawa needs to do more to help citizens detained abroad.
Mohamed Fahmy wants to trigger a national conversation on the issue when he arrives in Toronto in the coming days.
“I will start a constructive debate about the Canadian government’s handling of the case and how foreign policy in dealing with such emergencies could be improved to protect Canadians who could be in a similar situation like mine, or worse,” he told The Canadian Press in an interview.
Fahmy, 41, plans to accept invitations to meet separately with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau following his return to Canada.
“I’m not endorsing or pledging allegiance to anyone,” he said. “But these two parties and these two leaders — I really want to meet them in person and thank them, because they stood beside me very much so when I needed the support.”
Fahmy and two colleagues were arrested in Cairo in December 2013 while working for satellite news broadcaster Al Jazeera English and faced widely denounced charges.
A legal battle involving two trials and a year in prison for Fahmy finally came to an end when he was abruptly pardoned by Egypt’s president just over a week ago.
Fahmy said Mulcair and Trudeau appealed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government when he needed it the most, particularly during a brief period when, while out on bail in Cairo during his second trial, he was left without a Canadian passport.
“(Harper’s) response was unacceptable, considering the security threat I was facing,” Fahmy said at the time.
While thankful for the efforts of the Canadian ambassador and consular staff in Cairo, Fahmy was disappointed with “mild” efforts by Ottawa to win his release.
“If the Conservative government even begins to take credit for my pardon, then they are extremely mistaken,” Fahmy said, crediting his release to the efforts of his wife, his lawyers, and the support he received from Canadians and others around the world.