Beyond the pardons, press freedom still under threat in Egypt

Source:
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Date of source:
29 Sep 2015

Excerpts from the CPJ text:

On September 26, a few days after el-Sisi pardoned imprisoned Al-Jazeera journalists Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy, the president told The Associated Press that he is open to clemency to other journalists who have been tried and convicted in absentia. El-Sisi said that his government is "always keen on sorting out issues and problems, especially those that relate to journalists and to the media personnel."

El-Sisi told the AP that to avoid interfering with the judicial process pardons can be issued only after a sentence has been handed down. But with a record number of journalists in jail in Egypt, the president will have to do more than make high-profile pardons­--like the one last week in which 100 political prisoners were released-- if he is to improve his country's press freedom record.

Journalists working for Al-Jazeera are not the only ones affected. Rena Netjes, a correspondent for Dutch newspaper Parool, was convicted in absentia, alongside Greste, Fahmy, and Mohamed, in August.

in Lebanon Mosad Albarbary, former administrative manager of Misr 25, a TV channel affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested at a Beirut airport in April 2014 following a request by the Egyptian government. The journalist was in Beirut to reopen and manage a satellite station, according to reports. Albarbary was deported to Cairo and sentenced to life in prison on charges of publishing false news.

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