Egypt: Release Aljazeera journalists

On February 20, 2014, the interim government in Egypt made good its resolve to put on trial a number of journalists working for the satellite television, Aljazeera. That the trial was held despite international appeals to the Egyptian authorities to free the journalists shows an unfriendly attitude of the present government towards the press.While it is understandable that freedoms can be withheld or abridged when a country is facing an emergency situation, it is tantamount to an assault on press freedom for journalists to be punished when they are not directly involved in the dispute between the government and its opponents. It is important that the present Egyptian government realises that it will not be in its long term interest to be seen as an enemy of the press. If the government hopes to use the press to publicise its programmes and win both local and international support, then it has to be press-friendly.

Happily, the trial did not go on as planned as it was postponed till a later date. We urge the authorities in Cairo to go further and show that it is not anti-press by dropping the case against the detained men and allow them to go.The journalists who were put on trial, and who have been in detention since 2013 include locally-based Aljazeera journalists and foreign journalists in the country. The Cairo authorities accused them of joining and aiding a terrorist organisation, the banned Muslim Brotherhood; but in effect the journalists were arrested while covering an event by the Brotherhood! We urge that journalists performing their duty by reporting the activities of both government and its opponents should not be made scapegoats of power struggle. There was never an instance when any of the Aljazeera journalists and others being held committed clear offences that undermined the authority of the Egyptian government. Thus the stance of the current Egyptian interim government is an over-kill.

Among the detained journalists are the Australian born and former BBC correspondent, Peter Greste; the young Aljazeera Arabic Channel reporter, Abdullah al-Shami, who has been in detention since August 2013 and now on hunger strike; Adel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, also of the Aljazeera stable, who were seized in a raid on a Cairo Hotel in December 2013. It is clear that the reason for the actions of the regime in Cairo is to instill fear in journalists, muffle the press and get the latter to embark on self-censorship that will shut out the voice of government’s opponents. The authorities in Egypt do not need to incarcerate and perhaps kill journalists to achieve control of the situation. Such hostile attitude towards the press will likely play into the hands of the government’s opponents as journalists, the world over, in sympathy with their detained or jailed colleagues will start to portray the regime as opposed to freedom of speech and a free press. The result would be contempt for Egypt and its leadership by the comity of nations. It would be a tragedy for Egypt, the present interim government and whoever emerges as leader of the country given the on-going transitional process.

Leading countries of the world including the European Union and the International Union of Journalists have appealed for Egypt to free these hard-working journalists. We strongly advise the Cairo government to heed these appeals and use the opportunity to mend its fractured relationship with the press. The Egyptian government will discover in the long run that it needs the press to succeed. Without a friendly press, and an articulate and well-informed citizenry, not much can be achieved by any government, the world over.