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Egyptian TV airs arrest of Al Jazeera reporters Egyptian TV airs arrest of Al Jazeera reporters
(about 5 hours later)
CAIRO — A private Egyptian television channel has aired what it called exclusive footage of the December arrest and interrogation of two Al Jazeera English journalists, who are now being held in a high-security prison awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges. CAIRO — A private Egyptian television channel has aired what it called exclusive footage of the arrest and interrogation of two foreign journalists, who are now being held in a high-security prison awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.
The 22-minute video, broadcast Sunday night by the satellite channel al-Tahrir, appeared to have been taken by police forces as they stormed the Qatar-owned global news network’s makeshift offices at the Marriott Hotel in an upmarket Cairo neighborhood Dec. 29. The police were acting on orders to detain the two reporters, who were accused of conspiring with “terrorists” to fabricate news for the network’s English-language service. The 22-minute video, broadcast Sunday night by the satellite channel al-Tahrir, appeared to have been taken by police forces on Dec. 29 as they stormed a pair of upscale hotel rooms that were being used by the Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera English satellite network as temporary offices. The police were acting on orders to detain the two reporters, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Australian Peter Greste, who stand accused of conspiring with “terrorists” to fabricate news about Egypt.
Al Jazeera denounced the video in a statement Monday, describing it as an attempt to demonize its journalists and saying it could prejudice their trial.Al Jazeera denounced the video in a statement Monday, describing it as an attempt to demonize its journalists and saying it could prejudice their trial.
The video offers a glimpse of the way Egypt’s military-backed authorities view the work of journalists, as well as the state’s efforts to drum up opposition to news agencies viewed as critical of the government. Egypt’s military-backed government has been waging an increasingly heavy-handed crackdown on dissent nationwide since it came to power through a July 3 coup.
Since the military deposed President Mohamed Morsi last summer, authorities have presided over a harsh crackdown on his Islamist supporters but also on leftist activists and journalists. Egyptian media, both state-owned and private, have helped push the government’s narrative. On Monday, the military said it launched a major offensive in the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 20 people, the Associated Press reported. Bedouin residents of North Sinai said the announcement was mostly bluster, meant to bolster public sympathy for the military’s war on terrorism. Clashes erupted after the military demolished a cluster of homes, but “there were no deaths on either side,” said one powerful local tribal leader known as Abu Ashraf.
Egyptians have denounced Al Jazeera English and its Arabic-language sister channel as mouthpieces for the Muslim Brotherhood, which was allied with Qatar during its brief time in power. The government here, installed following the July 3 coup against Morsi, recently labeled the Brotherhood a “terrorist organization.” A Sinai-based extremist group has claimed responsibility for a series of recent attacks on police and military targets, including deadly bombings inside the capital. Anti-coup and anti-military protesters have also clashed regularly with police across the country.
In a case that has drawn international condemnation, Egypt’s public prosecutor has charged 20 people — including the two journalists arrested in the video — with manipulating clips to assist the “terrorists” in falsely depicting Egypt as a country in the midst of a civil war. Rights groups have called the charges a blow to freedom of the press. Egyptian security forces, and a willing local media, have cast the country’s internal struggle as a “war on terrorism.” They have used the term to justify the arrest and prosecution of thousands of Egyptians, including militant jihadists, members of the former president’s Muslim Brotherhood, liberal activists and members of the news media.
“Where are your cameramen?” one security official, but who does not appear on camera, is heard asking Al Jazeera’s Canadian-Egyptian producer, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Egypt was also the third-deadliest place for the news media last year, and its government ranks among the top 10 jailers of journalists.
Fahmy is shown with his Australian colleague, Peter Greste, as police interrogate them at the hotel. Both are now detained at the Tora prison complex outside Cairo, where Fahmy is reportedly being held in an insect-infested cell in solitary confinement. Al-Jazeera’s Arabic and English sister channels have landed at the center of the government’s crackdown on media; both networks have been blasted as mouthpieces for the Muslim Brotherhood, which forged close ties with Qatar during its brief time in power. The government formally branded the Brotherhood a “terrorist organization” in December. And Egyptian media, both state-owned and private, have helped push the government’s narrative.
“When was the last time you went to Qatar?” the interrogator asks. In a case that has drawn international condemnation, Egypt’s public prosecutor last week moved to charge 20 people — including the two journalists arrested in the video — with manipulating clips to assist the “terrorists” in falsely depicting Egypt as a country in the midst of a civil war.
The footage has been theatrically set to the soundtrack of the sci-fi motion picture “Thor: The Dark World.” As the dramatic film score plays on, the cameraman filming the operation zooms in on items supposedly implicating the network and its journalists in conspiracy. “When was the last time you went to Qatar?” an off-camera interrogator asks Fahmy and Greste in the video.
Among the evidence documented in the recording were standard supplies for a news bureau, including Apple laptops, electrical cords and power strips, external hard drives, and even Greste’s business card. “So you conduct an interview, and then they send you money?” he says in questioning Fahmy, who responds by explaining calmly how a salary works.
“When you film your interviews, how do you send them?” one police official asks Fahmy. “We found two devices; one connects through the Internet and one with a SIM card. Do you use them?” Both men have been detained, along with cameraman Baher Mohamed, who was arrested at home, for more than a month. Fahmy’s family says he has been denied medical care for a preexisting shoulder condition and is being held in solitary confinement.
Al Tahrir, the channel that aired the footage, was founded during Egypt’s 2011 uprising as an answer to pro-government networks. On Sunday, Al Tahrir described the video as exclusive footage of the “Marriott cell,” implying that the journalists were part of a militant organization. The release of the footage — theatrically set to the soundtrack of the sci-fi action movie “Thor: The Dark World” — appeared designed to bolster public sympathy for the prosecutor’s case. During the interrogation, the cameraman zooms in on items — including Apple laptops, external hard drives and even Greste’s business card — that supposedly implicate the network and its journalists in a conspiracy.
At one point in the recording, the camera gives viewers a lingering shot of one of the suite’s bathrooms and its toilet. “When you film your interviews, how do you send them?” one interrogator asks Fahmy. “We found two devices; one connects through the Internet and one with a SIM card. Do you use them?”
“Video showing laptops, mobile phones and a flipped toilet seat as [a] den of espionage,” prominent Egyptian journalist, Shahira Amin, posted on Twitter on Monday after watching the video. Al-Tahrir, the channel that aired the footage, was founded during Egypt’s 2011 uprising as an answer to the state-run networks that had long served the regime of strongman Hosni Mubarak. On Sunday, al-Tahrir described the video as exclusive footage of the “Marriott cell,” suggesting that the journalists were part of a militant organization.
“#Egypt hysteria,” she wrote.
Sharaf al-Hourani contributed to this report.Sharaf al-Hourani contributed to this report.