Questions over why Egyptian journalists remain locked up
‘They should all be set free. It is the same case.’
AN AUSTRALIAN reporter for AlJazeera English has been freed from an Egyptian prison and deported after more than a year behind bars, but his two Egyptian colleagues remain in jail in a case widely condemned by humanrights groups.
Australian Peter Greste was whisked away on a flight to Cyprus. His release came as a welcome surprise to fellow reporters and activists who had spent months pressing for his freedom.
But rights groups and Greste’s Qatar-based broadcaster called on Egypt to release the other two defendants in the case, which has hindered the country’s international standing as it struggles to recover from the political unrest and economic collapse caused by the 2011 uprising.
Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were arrested in December 2013 for their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests following the military overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi.
Egyptian authorities accused them of providing a platform for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organisation. But authorities provided no concrete evidence.
The journalists and their supporters insist they were doing their jobs during a time of violent upheaval.
The three were widely seen as having been caught up in a regional power struggle between Egypt and Qatar, which funds AlJazeera and had been a strong backer of Morsi. Greste’s release follows a thawing of ties between Cairo and Doha.
‘‘Hard to believe but YES @PeterGreste is a free man,’’ his brother Andrew wrote on Twitter.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who had been negotiating for Greste’s release, said yesterday that the 49-year-old journalist had told her by telephone from Egypt that he was desperate to return to his family in Brisbane after spending 400 days in custody.
‘‘He was
immensely
relieved and he was desperate to come home to Australia and reunite with his family,’’ Bishop said.
Australian Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull credited the international pressure on Egypt as well as the personal lobbying of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the outcome.
‘‘Clearly a lot of international influence and persuasion has been brought to bear, not just the Australian Government,’’ he said.
An Egyptian prison official and the country’s official news agency said Greste was released following a presidential ‘‘approval’’. The of- ficial and an Interior Ministry statement said he was freed under a new deportation law passed last year. The law appeared to have been tailored to the Al-Jazeera case.
Acting Al-Jazeera Director General Mostefa Souag said the Qatar-based network ‘‘will not rest until Baher and Mohamed also regain their freedom’’.
Canada also welcomed the ‘‘positive developments’’, saying it was hopeful that Fahmy’s case would be ‘‘resolved shortly’’.
The three were convicted on terrorism charges and for spreading false information, faking
Baher Mohamed’s wife Jehane reports to show that the country was on the verge of civil war and aiding the Brotherhood’s goal of portraying Egypt as a failed state.
Mohamed received an additional three years for possession of a spent bullet he had picked up as a souvenir. Three other foreign reporters received 10-year sentences in absentia.
An appeals court overturned their verdict in January and ordered a retrial. No date has been set for the case.
During the five-month trial, prosecutors presented no evidence backing the charges, at times citing random video footage found with the defendants that even the judge dismissed as irrelevant.
The Al-Jazeera journalists’ arrest was part of a broad crackdown against Islamists in which hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested following the ousting of Morsi. Many of the leading activists behind the 2011 uprising that brought down president Hosni Mubarak have also been jailed for violating a law banning unauthorised protests.
According to a law passed late last year, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has the power to deport foreign defendants or convicts if it is considered to be in the interest of national security.
El-Sisi had repeatedly said he wants to end the case, which has prompted a storm of international criticism.
Greste, 49, had only been in Egypt for a few weeks when he was detained. Fahmy had taken up his post as an acting bureau chief only a couple of months before his arrest.
Mohamed will not benefit from the deportation law because he does not have another nationality.
‘‘They should all be set free. It is the same case,’’ his wife, Jehane, said. ‘‘Or is this about foreigners and Egyptians?’’