9 scribes still languish in Egyptian prisons
14 Feb 2015 12:06 AM GMT
While two jailed Al-Jazeera reporters were freed on Friday pending a retrial, rights groups say at least nine more journalists still languish in Egyptian prisons.
Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were released nearly two weeks after their Australian colleague Peter Greste was deported under a presidential decree.
The three were arrested in late 2013 and sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail for aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood. An appeals court in January ordered their retrial.
New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which in 2013 rated Egypt as the third most dangerous country for journalists after Syria and Iraq, says there are nine more media workers jailed in the country.
Separately, officials at Egypt’s press syndicate say at least 15 journalists are imprisoned.
Some are facing trial on several charges including rioting and belonging to a “terrorist organisation”.
Detainees also include citizen journalists arrested in police sweeps to quell protests backing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Some prominent journalists held in Egypt’s prisons are: Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, Abu Zeid, a freelance photographer who has worked for photo agencies such as Demotix and Corbis, is one of the longest-detained journalists in Egypt.
Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were released nearly two weeks after their Australian colleague Peter Greste was deported under a presidential decree.
The three were arrested in late 2013 and sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail for aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood. An appeals court in January ordered their retrial.
New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which in 2013 rated Egypt as the third most dangerous country for journalists after Syria and Iraq, says there are nine more media workers jailed in the country.
Separately, officials at Egypt’s press syndicate say at least 15 journalists are imprisoned.
Some are facing trial on several charges including rioting and belonging to a “terrorist organisation”.
Detainees also include citizen journalists arrested in police sweeps to quell protests backing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Some prominent journalists held in Egypt’s prisons are: Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, Abu Zeid, a freelance photographer who has worked for photo agencies such as Demotix and Corbis, is one of the longest-detained journalists in Egypt.
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