Freedom of speech slipping through Egyptian Journalist’s fingers
In midDecember of last year, an awardwinning BBC correspondent Peter Greste
arrived in Egypt, only to be jailed two weeks later with two colleagues, EgyptianCanadian
Cairo AlJazeera bureau chief Mohamed Adel Fahmy and Egyptian AlJazeera producer
Baher Mohamed. They are being charged with crimes such as broadcasting fake news
and joining or helping a terrorist association.The three jailed journalists have had their cell
nicknamed "Marriott terror cell”. These men, due to appear in front of a criminal court in
February of this year, are potentially facing several years in jail.
These three journalists have been in Cairo's Tora prison complex for around two
months. Peter Gestle, BBC correspondent, wrote in a letter to his family that he has been
"locked in my cell 24 hours a day, for the past 10 days, allowed out only for questioning".
Shockingly, his colleagues were supposedly held separately in even worse conditions.The
three men are currently confined to a single cell, allowed out for an hour of exercise a day.
Mohamed Fahmy was thrown into prison with a dislocated shoulder, was forced to sleep
on the ground, and continues to await medical treatment.
Egypt denies that jailing these journalists is an attack on free speech. They claim
that journalists are being jailed because they did not have press passes, and therefore
were working illegally. "We have accredited more than 1,000 correspondents from foreign
organisations, and they are working freely," one official says. "If you break the law, this is
not freedom of expression."
Al Jazeera, one of the journalists in the “Marriott” cell, has been a regular target for
the Egyptian militarybacked government. His channel is owned by the government of
Qatar, which backs the Muslim brotherhood. The head of news gathering nfor jazeera
Heather Allen says that "Egypt is a very important story for us. We've always been there,
we believe we have been very fair, and when they were picked up we thought it would last a
day or two."
Many journalists now feel they are working completely in fear of the government.