Supporters demand release of Canadian in Egypt
Posted February 27, 2014 7:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Members of the Canadian media and the public are expected to speak out online and on the ground Thursday to demand the release of an Egyptian-Canadian journalist and his colleagues imprisoned in Cairo.
The events being held in Toronto and Montreal are part of a global day of action organized by satellite news broadcaster Al Jazeera to protest the detention of its employees, who’ve been accused of endangering national security in Egypt.
Organizers say they want to send a message that journalism is not a crime.
Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and his colleagues — Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed — have been behind bars since Dec. 29.
Their arrests were characterized as part of a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group which Egypt’s military-backed government has branded a terrorist organization.
Local authorities have said Al Jazeera is biased towards the Brotherhood — an allegation the broadcaster has denied while saying its journalists were just doing their jobs.
“We want Egypt to know that these people that are in prison are being watched by the world and that the world expects that they will be let go as soon as possible,” said Daniel Lak, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Toronto.
A trial for Fahmy and his colleagues began last week, with all three pleading not guilty to the charges against them.
The trio are being tried as part of a group of 20 individuals who authorities say worked for Al Jazeera. At least 12 of those are being tried in abstentia.
Fahmy’s family has called the charges against the 40-year-old “ridiculous” and hopes an Egyptian court will eventually dismiss the case.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said “senior Canadian officials” have raised Fahmy’s case with Egyptian authorities and have requested a “fair and expeditious trial.”
Fahmy’s family moved to Canada in 1991. He lived in Montreal and Vancouver for years before eventually moving abroad for work, which included covering stories for the New York Times and CNN.
