Canada’s foreign affairs minister, John Baird, on Monday discussed with Egypt’s new foreign minister the case of a Canadian journalist jailed in Egypt
A government-issued summary of Mr. Baird’s call with Sameh Shoukry said Mr. Baird raised the issue during a phone conversation focused on how Cairo might contribute to ending Hamas-led rocket attacks on Israel.
An Egyptian court in June convicted Mr. Fahmy and two other Al-Jazeera journalists and sentenced them to seven years in prison on terrorism-related charges. Rights groups dismissed the trial as a politically motivated sham.
Following the verdict, Canada was criticized more not speaking up more forcefully.
Mr. Fahmy was arrested in Egypt on Dec. 29, 2013 along with two Al Jazeera colleagues – Australian correspondent Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed. They joined Abdulla al-Shami, a fourth Al Jazeera journalist who has been detained for more than six months.
Prior to his arrest, he was serving as the Cairo bureau chief for Al Jazeera English. The station is owned by the government of Qatar, which Qatar supports of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party was overthrown in an Egyptian military coup last year.
Mr. Fahmy came to Canada with his family about two decades ago and holds both Canadian and Egyptian citizenship.
In May he was honoured as the 16th winner of the World Press Freedom Award at the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom’s annual luncheon celebration at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
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