Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy should be transferred to Canada, he “is eligible for transfer… and the retrial process that is now in motion does not change that,” says his lawyer Amal Clooney in a statement released Thursday (February 26).
“Mr. Fahmy is a Canadian national who was subjected to the same unfair trial process as [Australian journalist Peter] Greste,” writes Clooney. “Fahmy was told by high-level Egyptian officials that, as a dual Egyptian-Canadian national, he must give up his Egyptian citizenship to guarantee a transfer. He had no choice but to do so in order to secure his freedom.
“Since then, the Egyptian government took steps to implement his release. They publicized Fahmy’s nationality renunciation in their Official Gazette. The Canadian government also received assurances from the Egyptian government that a decision had been taken to release him and that his departure from the country was imminent. This includes assurances made by officials from the Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry and Interior Ministry, according to the Canadian officials. Such assurances led the Canadian government to declare that Mr. Fahmy’s release was ‘imminent.’ But it did not happen.”
Clooney then criticizes the Canadian response:
So what did Canada do? It published a short written statement by a junior minister calling the situation “unacceptable” and asking for Fahmy’s “full and immediate release” and “consideration of a general amnesty.” Such sheepish whimpers are woefully inadequate when it comes to enforcing an agreement reached with a sovereign state regarding a citizen’s release from detention. Canada should now begin real advocacy to ensure that Egypt honors its agreement to release Mr. Fahmy from Egypt. There is no legal impediment to his immediate transfer to Canada. Yet calls from Canadian society and politicians for Prime Minister Harper to pick up the phone to personally intervene in the case have so far fallen on deaf ears.
In her statement she writes “Fahmy’s calls on Al Jazeera for support have also been rebuffed. It is however hoped that Al Jazeera English — Mr. Fahmy’s employer when he was arrested — will refrain from taking any action that might undermine his bid for freedom.”
She says she expects to be in Cairo soon “I now plan to visit Egypt to meet with my client and discuss the status of the case with Canadian and Egyptian officials. Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged my request and my visa application is currently being processed. I hope that such a visit can lead to a swift and complete resolution of this case.”
Fahmy is one of three Al-Jazeera English journalists who were found guilty on terror-related charges in a widely-criticized trial.
More information:
Huffington Post – Amal Clooney statement – here
Globe and Mail – Amal Clooney to travel to Egypt to lobby for Fahmy’s freedom – here
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