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Ahmed Mansour: Germany detains al-Jazeera journalist 'on Egyptian warrant' Al-Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansour held in Germany on Egyptian warrant
(about 11 hours later)
Ahmed Mansour, a prominent al-Jazeera Arabic journalist, has been detained in Germany over an Egyptian arrest warrant, the broadcaster reported, in the latest in a long series of legal entanglements between the authorities in Cairo and Qatar’s satellite news channels. A senior journalist with al-Jazeera has been detained in Germany as a result of an Egyptian arrest warrant, raising a possible international dimension to the antagonism between Cairo and the Qatar-based network.
Mansour, a senior journalist with the Arabic service, was detained on Saturday while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight at Berlin’s Tegel airport heading to Doha, the station reported. It said he previously had been sentenced in absentia in Egypt to 15 years in prison over allegedly torturing an unnamed lawyer in Tahrir Square in 2011, a charge both he and the channel rejected. Ahmed Mansour was detained at Berlin’s Tegel airport while attempting to board a flight to Doha on Saturday, and his case was due to be considered by prosecutors in Berlin on Monday.
While not identifying Mansour by name, German police spokesman Meik Grauer said authorities detained a 52-year-old Egyptian-British journalist and that prosecutors would look into the arrest warrant on Sunday. Mansour was convicted in absentia in 2014 of torturing a lawyer in Tahrir Square in 2011. He rejected the charges, calling them “a flimsy attempt at character assassination”.
In October al-Jazeera said Interpol had rejected an Egyptian request to put out a “red notice” for Mansour’s arrest. The British-Egyptian journalist initially told al-Jazeera that authorities in Germany held him on an Interpol notice , however it later transpired he was held after a request from Egypt.
After his detention in Germany, Mansour told al-Jazeera: Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin state prosecutor in whose custody Mansour was held, said: “It was an Egyptian arrest warrant ... The problem is, as state prosecutors we have jurisdiction because he was arrested in Berlin. We cannot begin to assess the content of the arrest warrant yet. We’re going to start that tomorrow [Monday].”
I am now in detention in Berlin airport in Germany as I was heading back to Doha. Steltner said that if the case had political consequences, the foreign ministry would be involved in the decision about what to do with Mansour.
The airport authorities detained me based on an Interpol order at the request of the Egyptian authorities. I informed [the police] that the global police organisation has rejected Egypt’s request and that I have this document from the Interpol to prove that I am not wanted in any charge. I also told them that all the cases that were filed against me in Egypt were fabricated. They, however, insisted on holding me in their detention centre for investigation. They told me that they will transfer me to face an investigating judge, who will determine my case. The arrest, coming only two weeks after Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s state visit to Berlin, has sparked outrage among Germany’s opposition parties. “After the red carpet for Sisi, is the German government now [his] henchman?” said Green party MP Franziska Brantner on Twitter.
I refused to sign the detention request until I speak to my lawyer who just got here. We hope that this misunderstanding will be resolved quickly. It is quite ludicrous that a country like Germany would enforce and support such a request made by a dictatorial regime like the one we have in Egypt. The Interpol itself cleared my name with this document that I have in my hands. Egypt accuses both Qatar and al-Jazeera of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which was branded a terrorist organisation after the military deposed president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Three journalists with al-Jazeera English spent more than 400 days in prison following their arrest in Cairo in late 2013. The trial was regarded internationally as a farce.
The network’s acting director general, Mostefa Souag, called for Mansour’s immediate release in a statement released on Saturday evening. Steltner also said that if the case had political consequences, the foreign ministry would be involved in the decision about what to do with Mansour.
“Other countries must not allow themselves to be tools of this media oppression, least of all those that respect freedom of the media as does Germany,” Soaug said. Whether it is down to a bureaucratic misunderstanding or not, the arrest, coming only two weeks after Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s state visit to Berlin, has sparked outrage among Germany’s opposition parties, and already looks like a real embarrassment for Angela Merkel’s government.
Mansour recently conducted an interview with the head of the Nusra Front, the al-Qaida branch fighting in Syria’s civil war. In a Facebook post on Saturday night he said he had showed German authorities an email from Interpol saying he was not wanted by them. “After the red carpet for al-Sisi, is the German government now [his] henchman?” said Green party MP Franziska Brantner on Twitter.
Egypt and Qatar have had tense relations since 2013 when the Egyptian military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi amid massive protests. Doha is a strong backer of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Cairo accuses al-Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for Morsi’s supporters, which is denied by the broadcaster. Egypt accuses both Qatar and al-Jazeera of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which was branded a terrorist organisation after the military deposed president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Three journalists with al-Jazeera English spent more than 400 days in prison following their arrest in Cairo in late 2013. The trial was regarded internationally as a farce.
In December 2013 Egyptian security forces raided a hotel room used by al-Jazeera English, arresting three journalists and later convicting of them of being part of a terrorist group and airing falsified footage intended to damage national security in a widely criticised trial. Mansour was convicted in absentia in 2014 of torturing a lawyer in Tahrir Square in 2011. Mansour rejected the charges, calling them “a flimsy attempt at character assassination”.
Acting bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, who has Canadian citizenship, and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed are free on bail amid a retrial. Australian journalist Peter Greste was deported in February. Meik Gauer, a spokesman for the federal police in Berlin, earlier told the Guardian: “It was an international arrest warrant. We handed him over to the Berlin police last night. He will be arraigned before the committing magistrate, who will decide whether he stays in custody or whether he will be extradited or what happens in this case. I expect that to happen on Monday.
“All countries that put out an international arrest warrant that is also valid in Germany will go via the Bundeskriminalamt [federal criminal police office],” he continued. “The BKA then puts the arrest warrant into its system, so that the federal police at the border control also has access to it. Our contact is not Interpol, but the BKA – that is the central base where all documents for Germany are filed. I don’t know if Interpol had anything to do with it.”
An online petition calling on Angela Merkel to release Mansour has gathered around 17,000 signatures.
Interpol said in October 2014 that it had denied a request from Egypt to issue a “red notice” – similar to an international arrest warrant – as the request did not satisfy its requirements.
Reached by phone in Cairo, a spokesman for Egypt’s interior ministry declined to comment on the case. Interpol confirmed there was no red notice, but declined to comment further.
Al-Jazeera’s acting director general, Mostefa Souag, said: “The crackdown on journalists by Egyptian authorities is well known. Our network, as the Arab world’s most-watched, has taken the brunt of this. Other countries must not allow themselves to be tools of this media oppression, least of all those that respect freedom of the media as does Germany.”
Mansour recently conducted an interview with Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian insurgent group affiliated with al-Qaida.
Mansour’s detention could raise concerns for three journalists with al-Jazeera English who are facing an ongoing ordeal in the Egyptian legal system. Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste spent more than 400 days in prison after they were arrested in Cairo in December 2013. They were convicted in a bizarre trial of collaborating with a terrorist group – a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood – and sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison.
An appeals court ordered a retrial in that case in December, and Greste was deported to his home country of Australia. He faces a possible conviction in absentia as the retrial comes to a conclusion in Cairo in the coming weeks. He called Mansour’s arrest a “hugely worrying development”.
Al-Jazeera has been at the centre of a geopolitical dispute between Egypt and Qatar, a small Gulf state widely regarded as sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood. Since Egypt’s armed forces removed the Brotherhood-backed president Morsi from power in July 2013, a military-backed government has launched a clampdown on the Brotherhood and other opposition groups. Thousands of people have been jailed and more than 1,000 killed in a series of confrontations between security forces and pro-Morsi protesters.