Convicted Al Jazeera Spies Beg For Amnesty For Crimes During Egypt Revolt ~ THE 5TH ESTATE ASIA

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Convicted Al Jazeera Spies Beg For Amnesty For Crimes During Egypt Revolt

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Al Jazeera spies Greste & Co. are lucky to have escaped the death penalty for inciting sectarian violence, civil war; are responsible for the deaths of legitimate journalists worldwide who are painted with the same CIA wielded brush: Al Jazeera should be banned from ALL sovereign, democratic countries

GLOBE AND MAIL
By Kim Mackrael
07/14/2014

A government-issued summary of Mr. Baird’s call with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry indicated that the conversation focused on how Cairo might contribute to ending Hamas-led rocket attacks on Israel. Mr. Baird also took the opportunity to raise “consular matters” with his Egyptian counterpart, according to the summary.

CIA Al Jazeera spies Greste and Fahmy in Egypt court

A spokesperson for Mr. Baird confirmed that Mr. Fahmy’s imprisonment was discussed but refused to provide details on the conversation. “The minister did raise Mr. Fahmy’s case during his discussion with his Egyptian counterpart,” Adam Hodge wrote in an e-mail. “As it was a private conversation about a consular matter, we cannot provide further details.”

Last month, an Egyptian court convicted Mr. Fahmy, who was serving as Al Jazeera’s English-language Cairo bureau chief, of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast false new reports. Mr. Fahmy and his colleague, Australian reporter Peter Greste, were each sentenced to seven years in prison, while their Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received a 10-year sentence.

The trial was widely denounced by human rights and media advocacy groups.

Mr. Fahmy came to Canada with his family two decades ago and holds both Canadian and Egyptian citizenship. His news organization, Al Jazeera, is owned by the government of Qatar.

Al Jazeera spy Sue Turton sentenced to 10 years

Qatar is supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, a political party in Egypt that was ousted in a military coup last year.

Sharif Fahmy, Mr. Fahmy’s brother, said on Monday that he was encouraged to hear that the case was raised but was still trying to learn more about what, specifically, was discussed. Mr. Fahmy released a statement on Monday through his family, saying his imprisonment has left him and his colleagues “more determined than ever” to fight for freedom of speech.

He said he was encouraged by messages of support from around the world and campaigns on behalf of the Al Jazeera reporters. He also raised concerns about recent sentences handed out to journalists in Myanmar and Iran.

“If this retaliatory attitude by governments has become a trend to instill fear against hard-hitting investigative journalists, then we have a long battle ahead of us,” he wrote. “A war of attrition we are prepared to fight, even after our release from prison.”

Ottawa has been accused of not doing enough to advocate publicly for Mr. Fahmy’s release, amid more vocal criticism from the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.

Mr. Baird has defended the government’s approach, saying quiet diplomacy is more effective.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi told local reporters earlier this month that he would have preferred to have the Al Jazeera journalists deported after their arrests, rather than prosecuted, and acknowledged that the prison sentences have damaged Egypt’s reputation.

Mr. Fahmy was arrested last December and has been held in prison for nearly 200 days.

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