Egyptian reporter remains in jail over nationality: Wife
The wife of an Egyptian reporter kept in jail while his associates holding foreign citizenship have been cleared for release has complained that her husband is being punished for his nationality.
"We're paying the price for being Egyptian," said Jihan Rashid, the spouse of Baher Mohamed, a 32-year-old journalist working for Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera news channel who faces indefinite imprisonment since he cannot be deported to another country.
"It's the peak of injustice for my husband to remain in prison and be tried while his foreign colleagues are freed," she added.
While Mohamed’s fellow Al-Jazeera English journalist, Australian Peter Greste, has already been set free and his Egyptian-Canadian associate Mohamed Fahmy is on the verge of being released, he will remain in jail indefinitely because he only holds Egyptian nationality, AFP reported Sunday.
"Their deportation means in effect their innocence," Rashid said of Greste and Fahmy. "Why should my husband remain in prison? I am seriously working on getting him another nationality."
The three were arrested by Egyptian security forces in December 2013 and put on trial for allegedly favoring the country’s blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood organization in their reporting.
The trial came against the background of tense relations between Egypt and the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, which backed the presidency of Brotherhood-affiliated Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by former army-chief and current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a military coup in July 2013.
The journalist were subsequently sentenced to seven years in jail, while the court gave Mohamed an extra three-year prison term because police searching his home allegedly found a spent bullet casing he had picked up at a protest rally.
According to the report, under international pressure to release the three journalists, al-Sisi eventually issued a decree tailored for Greste and Fahmy, allowing the deportation of foreigners but overlooking the fate of Mohamed, a producer.
While Greste was deported last week, Fahmy, who holds a dual citizenship, had to renounce his native Egyptian nationality to be cleared for imminent release and deportation to Canada, the report said, citing an Egyptian official.
Meanwhile, media advocacy groups state that at least 10 more journalists remain in jail across Egypt, where reporters increasingly censor themselves for fear of angering the US-backed government or being accused as “Islamists.”
MFB/HSN/HMV
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