By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: Joining the international chorus for the FreeAJStaff campaign, an Indian scribes’ body has demanded an immediate release of all journalists, who have been jailed in Egypt for allegedly ‘producing false reports on Egypt in collaboration with the banned Muslim Brotherhood group endangering Egypt’s national security’.
In a statement issued today, Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), a northeast India based scribes’ body, has appealed to the Egyptian government in Cairo to offer clemency to the newsmen for maintaining the spirit of democracy and journalism.
Media reports reveal that three journalists engaged with the Doha based Al-Jazeera news channel are facing imprisonment in Egypt since last year. The jailed journalists including Peter Greste, an Australian journalist working for Al-Jazeera, Mohamed Adel Fahmy, Cairo bureau chief of Al-Jazeera and Baher Mohamed of Al-Jazeera were arrested in Cairo by the government agency on 29 December 2013 and since then they are behind bars.
A Cairo based court on Monday pronounced the verdict of sentencing journalists Greste and Fahmy to seven years in prison, whereas 10 years imprisonment to Baher Mohamed. Two more Al-Jazeera journalists namely Sue Turton and Dominic Kane were also tried in absentia and ordered 10 years imprisonment. Similar punishment was also pronounced for Rena Netjes, a correspondent for Dutch Parool newspaper by the court.
The Al-Jazeera has strenuously rejected the charges against its journalists and maintained their innocence. It argues that the Cairo court verdicts defy ‘logic, sense and any semblance of justice’ and their journalists were being held simply for doing their job. The acclaimed news channel has called for the verdicts to be overturned and the journalists to be released.
Meanwhile, the Cairo court verdict has provoked a global outcry for the immediate release of the journalists. Media rights bodies and political leaderships of western world have criticized the act of sentencing Al-Jazeera journalists for ‘unfounded facts’. Appeals have been made to the newly elected Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to intervene in the matter for the release of the journalists.
However, ignoring the international criticism and calls, the President Sissi has distanced himself from the judicial process saying that his government would ‘not interfere in judicial matters’. The President, who had replaced Islamist President Mohammed Morsi few months back, asserting that the Egyptian judiciary is an independent entity, the authorities would always respect its independence.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), there are at least 14 journalists still behind bars in Egypt with various accusations. Joining the global #FreeAJStaff campaign, the New York based media rights body pointed out that ‘the jailing of the journalists is a brutal blow to Egyptian free speech and will only intensify the nation’s government-created climate of fear’.
According to the Paris based Reporters Without Borders/ Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), all together 170 working journalists are serving imprisonment in various countries including Egypt. China tops the list with 32 journalists sent to jail, followed by Eritrea (28), Iran (21), Syria (16), Ethiopia (9), Uzbekistan (9), Azerbaijan (8), Bahrain (5), Burma (5), Cuba (3), Russia (3), Turkey (3), Vietnam (2), Saudi Arabia (2), India (Sudhir Dhawle of Vidrohi and A.S.Mani of Netrikkan Naveena) etc.
“The journalist fraternity of India, which is recognized as the largest media entity in the globe, must come forward to raise voices for the imprisoned newsmen in various counties,” said the JFA statement issued by its president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria adding, “Moreover, the Indian media rights bodies should preach the message of freedom of expression across the world without trepidations.”