Egypt: 20 Journalists Sentenced to Jail amid an Ongoing Culture of Media Repression in Africa
ByStaff Writer
An Egyptian court sentenced 3 Al Jazeera journalists on Monday June 23 to 7 years in jail after finding them guilty on charges including helping a "terrorist organization" by publishing lies.
The three include Australian Peter Greste, Al Jazeera's Kenya-based correspondent, and Canadian-Egyptian national Mohamed Fahmy, bureau chief of Al Jazeera English.
A third defendant, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed, received an additional three-year jail sentence on a separate charge involving possession of weapons.
Another 11 defendants were sentenced in absentia to 10 years.
Scenes in the courtroom have been described as chaotic; with some people in tears, the Queenslander's family was "white-faced" at the sentence, while Fahmy was dragged from the courtroom cage screaming "they will pay for this".
The Australian Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance have released a statement condemning the verdict as "an appalling attack on press freedom and carries an implicit threat to all media working in Egypt".
Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed, all working for Qatar-based Al-Jazeera English, were among 20 defendants in a trial that has triggered international outrage amid fears of growing media restrictions in Egypt.
Since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the authorities have been incensed by the Qatari network's coverage of their deadly crackdown on his supporters.
They consider Al Jazeera as the voice of Qatar, and accuse Doha of backing Morsi's Brotherhood.
Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed were tried with 17 others on charges of "spreading false news" and having Brotherhood links.
The three have already been detained for nearly six months, along with six others.
Australian Prime Minister (PM) Tony Abbott said he spoke to Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over the weekend.
"I assured him as a former journalist myself that Peter Greste would have been reporting the Muslim Brotherhood, not supporting the Muslim Brotherhood," Abbott told the Seven Network early on Monday June 23.
He said the president understood Australia's position.
"I made my point. I made it as clearly as I could," said PM.
The talks between the two leaders follow similar lobbying by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who spoke with her recently appointed Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukri over the weekend.
In Canberra, parliamentarians made a bipartisan plea for Greste's release, as Greste's two brothers witnessed the ruling in Egyptian court.
Al Jazeera says only nine of the 20 defendants are members of its staff, including two foreign reporters who are abroad.
A non Al Jazeera Dutch journalist, is also among the defendants with other 16 being Egyptians accused of belonging to the Brotherhood, which the military-installed government designated a "terrorist organization" in December 2013.
The four foreigners are also alleged to have collaborated with and assisted their Egyptian co-defendants by providing media material, as well as editing and broadcasting it.
Prosecutors demanded the maximum penalty for all defendants.
Greste’s family spokesperson said an appeal would be considered.
"A number of contingencies have been put in place because we had to consider this option," Heidi Ross told the ABC news.
"I'm not really at liberty to discuss them; they need to be gone through privately by the family as different things have different implications for Peter. It's going to take a couple of days of sitting down and going through again all of the stuff for real this time, rather than just speculating and then to decide which tactic to take,” said Ross.
"An appeal is certainly on that list," he added.
Press freedom has been dealt a major blow in Africa in the recent months with Zimbabwe sentencing editor-in-chief of Chinhoyi community newspaper Western Star, James Muonwa to 6 months in jail.
According to exiled journalist Tanonoka Whande, there can never be real change in Zimbabwe until there is an active, free media.
Muonwa was sentenced to a serve jail term for allegedly operating a media group without a valid license from the Zimbabwe Media Commission.
The six month sentence was wholly suspended on condition Muonwa does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
Whande said that the case “is proof that there is no media freedom or democracy in Zimbabwe.”
NewsDay newspaper’s editor Nevanji Madanhire and reporter Moses Matenga were interrogated for hours this year by the police, over accusation of publishing ‘false statements prejudicial to the State’ at Harare Central Police Station.
Madanhire and Matenga were charged with contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and later released.