Journalists in Britain today called on the Egyptian authorities to release five Al-Jazeera staff held in Cairo jails without charge. Representatives from the BBC, Sky News and the Daily Telegraph joined with Al-Jazeera English executives and the parents of one of the five, Peter Greste, in demanding that they be freed immediately. Greste, an Australian who formerly worked for the BBC, was detained on 29 December along with his Al-Jazeera English colleagues, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Bahar Mohammed. Two Al-Jazeera Arabic staff - reporter Abdullah Al Shami (aka Elshamy, andnow on hunger strike) and cameraman Mohammed Badr - have been in prison since August last year. None of them have been charged with any offence. The secretary general of Amnesty International, Salil Shetty, has also condemned Egypts detention of the Al-Jazeera five. At the weekend, US Senator John McCain condemned the continued detention of the journalists, calling it a clear violation of press freedom. More than 50 foreign correspondents from across the world signed a statement earlier this month calling for an end to the arbitrary imprisonment of their Al-Jazeera colleagues. They further demanded the release of all fellow journalists in Egypt. The statement was signed by the BBCs Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, and its chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet. Among other signatories were CNNs Christiane Amanpour, the Associated Press senior managing editor for international news, John Daniszewski, and the Middle East bureau chief for The Economist, Max Rodenbeck. Foreign editors and correspondents from The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, The Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times also signed. Apart from the Al-Jazeera five, the New York-based press freedom watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists, has named a further three journalists in jail in Egypt: Metin Turkan of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, Mahmoud Abdel Nabi of Rassd Online News, and freelance photographer Mahmoud Abou Zeid. I am also informed that Egyptian police raided the flat of a documentary film-maker last week and arrested him, allegedly for having footage of last summers protest camp clearances. theguardian/media/greenslade/2014/jan/29/al-jazeera-egypt
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:00:24 +0000
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