OTTAWA (June 23, 2014) – CWA Canada, the country’s only all-media union, is outraged at the sentences handed down against three journalists in Egypt today and demands their immediate release.
Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian serving as Al-Jazeera’s Cairo bureau chief, and two of his colleagues were each sentenced to seven years in prison on trumped-up, terrorism-related charges.
CWA Canada joins other journalist groups and human rights organizations in condemning the action.
“We cannot allow the Egyptian government to get away with this,” said CWA Canada President Martin O’Hanlon.
“We cannot allow journalists to be punished or imprisoned for doing their jobs.
“Democratic countries and organizations must stand up to defend freedom of the press or this sort of injustice will spread. As journalism goes, so goes democracy.”
Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were accused of supporting Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which the authorities have declared a terrorist organization.
In fact, they were simply doing their duty as journalists, covering protests against the military-backed government.
For more information contact:
Martin O’Hanlon
President, CWA/SCA Canada
(613) 820-8460