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| No journalist's report could damage Egypt as much as the Al-Jazeera verdict | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The verdict handed down Monday in the Al-Jazeera trial came as a shock. In a country whose citizens are systematically fed conspiracy theories, three journalists have been jailed for reporting the truth. | The verdict handed down Monday in the Al-Jazeera trial came as a shock. In a country whose citizens are systematically fed conspiracy theories, three journalists have been jailed for reporting the truth. |
| We all have so many questions. Was this the decision of one judge, or an order from the top? Egypt's judiciary can be both vindictive and stubborn, but would president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi really leave this ruling to the whim of a public servant? Whether the decision came from the judge alone or not, will Sisi be merciful and bestow a pardon on Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed? | We all have so many questions. Was this the decision of one judge, or an order from the top? Egypt's judiciary can be both vindictive and stubborn, but would president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi really leave this ruling to the whim of a public servant? Whether the decision came from the judge alone or not, will Sisi be merciful and bestow a pardon on Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed? |
| If he does, will it be because of international pressure? As former Human Rights Watch activist Heba Morayef observed, we would not have seen a verdict like this under former president Hosni Mubarak, who was acutely sensitive about his international reputation. Does Sisi care what the west thinks of him? It’s not like this ruling is catering to a domestic audience – the Al-Jazeera trial has barely been covered in Egypt. | If he does, will it be because of international pressure? As former Human Rights Watch activist Heba Morayef observed, we would not have seen a verdict like this under former president Hosni Mubarak, who was acutely sensitive about his international reputation. Does Sisi care what the west thinks of him? It’s not like this ruling is catering to a domestic audience – the Al-Jazeera trial has barely been covered in Egypt. |
| Could it really be that these journalists, employed by a network owned by the rulers of Qatar, are just being used as fodder for Egypt’s cold war with the gulf state? Or is it just that the Egyptian court system is paranoid? | Could it really be that these journalists, employed by a network owned by the rulers of Qatar, are just being used as fodder for Egypt’s cold war with the gulf state? Or is it just that the Egyptian court system is paranoid? |
| A search for logical explanations for the Greste verdict may be fruitless. It’s not just journalism that’s under attack in Egypt: anywhere between 16,000 and 41,000 Egyptians have become political prisoners since former president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown last summer. Many now swelter in tiny concrete cells for months on end without charge, their detention renewed by a judge every 45 days. | A search for logical explanations for the Greste verdict may be fruitless. It’s not just journalism that’s under attack in Egypt: anywhere between 16,000 and 41,000 Egyptians have become political prisoners since former president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown last summer. Many now swelter in tiny concrete cells for months on end without charge, their detention renewed by a judge every 45 days. |
| As The Guardian revealed this week, up to 400 of them are being hidden in a secret military prison, denied even the pygmy justice of Egypt’s court system. Many have been arrested randomly, or on the merest of evidence, and are routinely beaten, electrocuted and hung naked from their wrists. Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, says the Sisi-led wave of repression is occurring “on a scale unprecedented in Egypt’s modern history”. | As The Guardian revealed this week, up to 400 of them are being hidden in a secret military prison, denied even the pygmy justice of Egypt’s court system. Many have been arrested randomly, or on the merest of evidence, and are routinely beaten, electrocuted and hung naked from their wrists. Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, says the Sisi-led wave of repression is occurring “on a scale unprecedented in Egypt’s modern history”. |
| These people all have families aching for their release. As Peter Greste’s parents, Lois and Juris, anxiously awaited the verdict on Monday night, they had champagne waiting on ice. They’re kind, pragmatic people who’d dared to hope this judge would rule on common sense. When they learned their son had been jailed for seven years, they cried, “What for, what for?” | These people all have families aching for their release. As Peter Greste’s parents, Lois and Juris, anxiously awaited the verdict on Monday night, they had champagne waiting on ice. They’re kind, pragmatic people who’d dared to hope this judge would rule on common sense. When they learned their son had been jailed for seven years, they cried, “What for, what for?” |
| It’s a heartbreaking question. Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were simply doing their jobs as journalists, for which they’ve been jailed for seven years. Baher Mohamed got an extra three years for carrying "ammunition": one spent bullet he’d kept as a souvenir from a protest. | It’s a heartbreaking question. Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were simply doing their jobs as journalists, for which they’ve been jailed for seven years. Baher Mohamed got an extra three years for carrying "ammunition": one spent bullet he’d kept as a souvenir from a protest. |
| The prosecutor, whose evidence included footage of sheep farming and a Gotye film clip, said the three Al-Jazeera English journalists had made "a devilish pact" with the Muslim Brotherhood, and that Al-Jazeera’s reports on sexual assaults and street protests were conceived to smear Egypt’s reputation in the outside world. | The prosecutor, whose evidence included footage of sheep farming and a Gotye film clip, said the three Al-Jazeera English journalists had made "a devilish pact" with the Muslim Brotherhood, and that Al-Jazeera’s reports on sexual assaults and street protests were conceived to smear Egypt’s reputation in the outside world. |
| No Al-Jazeera report could have damaged Egypt’s reputation as much as this sentence. As my Australian-Egyptian colleague Amro Ali observed, there is no bigger threat to the Egyptian state than the Egyptian state. | No Al-Jazeera report could have damaged Egypt’s reputation as much as this sentence. As my Australian-Egyptian colleague Amro Ali observed, there is no bigger threat to the Egyptian state than the Egyptian state. |