Dr Mohamed Kirat
By Dr Mohamed Kirat
Despite the Arab Spring and the many rallies and demonstrations seeking changes and democracy, and despite promises from new governments and rulers, freedom of the press is still suffering in Egypt and in so many countries in the region. It seems that the Arab regimes are very sensitive to any criticism or any kind of arguments and views different than theirs. Indeed, they don’t like investigative journalism, journalism that shows nepotism, despotism, mismanagement, corruption and injustice. Three
Aljazeera journalists were jailed for seven years and ten years by an Egyptian judge last Monday. Cairo explained the journalists’ convictions — for aiding a “terrorist organisation” — and rejected the widespread condemnation as “interference in its internal affairs”. The men have been held at Egypt’s famous Tora Prison for six months, with the case becoming a rallying point for rights groups and news organisations around the world. They were detained in late December and charged with helping “a terrorist group” — a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood — by broadcasting lies that harmed national security and supplying money, equipment and information to a group of Egyptians.
The Brotherhood was banned and declared a terrorist group after the army deposed elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. The Brotherhood asserts it is a peaceful organisation.
In Egypt, it was possible to believe that the fall of Hosni Mubarak was a step along the democratic path, three years ago. What democracy looks like now in Egypt was last month’s presidential election, in which Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who took power in a military coup, got 97 percent of the vote. In Egypt, lately three Aljazeera journalists, Baher Mohammad, Peter Greste, and Mohamad Fadel Fahmy, along with twenty other people whom the government deemed too sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to long prison terms — seven years for Fahmy, a Canadian citizen, and for Greste, an Australian; and ten for Mohammad. (Three other foreign journalists were in a group that was tried and convicted in absentia; they are unlikely to report back to Egypt to serve their terms.) Even though political freedom is a necessary precondition for press freedom, it isn’t sufficient.
Press freedom advocates around the world protested the verdicts in Egypt and claimed that the court’s decisions are politicised and the new regime is not willing to be open to a healthy media atmosphere in the country. For the three Aljazeera journalists who have been languishing in Egypt’s jails, the excruciating wait is over — and justice, having been so long delayed, has now been denied. The three men were accused of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood, but in reality they were simply doing their job: reporting the news. And now they have been given jail terms for it. This is the very frontline of freedom.
Despite the many reverses and disasters in the wake of the Arab Spring, many countries in the region (and elsewhere) are still engaged in the long and complex process of growing democratic institutions. Central among them must be a free press.
Freedom of expression at first appeared to improve after Mursi took power, for example, when he banned the pretrial detention of journalists in August 2012, but it soon became clear that Mursi was as hostile to critical media coverage as his predecessors. Physical attacks on journalists grew during Mursi’s tenure, and a number of journalists were arrested on charges including those for “insulting the president.”
Among the best-known cases was that of Bassem Youssef, a television comedian who was arrested in March 2013 and charged with insulting Mursi and Islam. These charges were eventually dropped. Youssef’s show returned briefly in October 2013, but he soon faced a new investigation for criticising the military leadership. The show’s broadcaster, CBC, pulled it from the air on November 1.
Censorship, both official and self-imposed, is widespread. A video leaked in October showed senior army leaders discussing the need for a reassertion of “red lines” on media criticism of the military, which they worried had been lost since the 2011 uprising. The officers complained that scrutiny of the government was not “normal,” and encouraged Al Sisi to pressure media owners to self-censor their coverage of military affairs. Also in the period after the coup, many Muslims were caught up in the government’s crackdown on the Brotherhood and its perceived supporters. Anyone whose appearance or dress suggested adherence to a conservative form of Islam was reportedly at risk of arrest or harassment. The government in September banned approximately 55,000 unlicensed Imams from giving sermons and required licensed applicants to receive training from Al Azhar University or certification by official and state-supervised institution. The ban was designed to silence preachers who the government considered were against its policies and were extremist.
Commenting on the court’s decisions on the Qatari channel, Al Anstey, Aljazeera English managing director, said the verdicts defied “logic, sense, and any semblance of justice”. “Today three colleagues and friends were sentenced, and will continue to be kept behind bars for doing a brilliant job of being great journalists. ‘Guilty’ of covering stories with great skill and integrity. ‘Guilty’ of defending people’s right to know what is going on in their world,” Anstey said in a statement.
“Peter, Mohamed, and Baher and six other colleagues were sentenced despite the fact that not a shred of evidence was found to support the extraordinary and false charges against them. At no point during the long drawn out ‘trial’ did the absurd allegations stand up to scrutiny.
Amnesty International described the verdicts as a “dark day for media freedom”. “
This is a devastating verdict for the men and their families, and a dark day for media freedom in Egypt, when journalists are being locked up and branded criminals or ‘terrorists’ simply for doing their job,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
The writer is a professor of Public Relations and Mass Communication at the College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University.
By Dr Mohamed Kirat
Despite the Arab Spring and the many rallies and demonstrations seeking changes and democracy, and despite promises from new governments and rulers, freedom of the press is still suffering in Egypt and in so many countries in the region. It seems that the Arab regimes are very sensitive to any criticism or any kind of arguments and views different than theirs. Indeed, they don’t like investigative journalism, journalism that shows nepotism, despotism, mismanagement, corruption and injustice. Three
Aljazeera journalists were jailed for seven years and ten years by an Egyptian judge last Monday. Cairo explained the journalists’ convictions — for aiding a “terrorist organisation” — and rejected the widespread condemnation as “interference in its internal affairs”. The men have been held at Egypt’s famous Tora Prison for six months, with the case becoming a rallying point for rights groups and news organisations around the world. They were detained in late December and charged with helping “a terrorist group” — a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood — by broadcasting lies that harmed national security and supplying money, equipment and information to a group of Egyptians.
The Brotherhood was banned and declared a terrorist group after the army deposed elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule. The Brotherhood asserts it is a peaceful organisation.
In Egypt, it was possible to believe that the fall of Hosni Mubarak was a step along the democratic path, three years ago. What democracy looks like now in Egypt was last month’s presidential election, in which Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who took power in a military coup, got 97 percent of the vote. In Egypt, lately three Aljazeera journalists, Baher Mohammad, Peter Greste, and Mohamad Fadel Fahmy, along with twenty other people whom the government deemed too sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to long prison terms — seven years for Fahmy, a Canadian citizen, and for Greste, an Australian; and ten for Mohammad. (Three other foreign journalists were in a group that was tried and convicted in absentia; they are unlikely to report back to Egypt to serve their terms.) Even though political freedom is a necessary precondition for press freedom, it isn’t sufficient.
Press freedom advocates around the world protested the verdicts in Egypt and claimed that the court’s decisions are politicised and the new regime is not willing to be open to a healthy media atmosphere in the country. For the three Aljazeera journalists who have been languishing in Egypt’s jails, the excruciating wait is over — and justice, having been so long delayed, has now been denied. The three men were accused of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood, but in reality they were simply doing their job: reporting the news. And now they have been given jail terms for it. This is the very frontline of freedom.
Despite the many reverses and disasters in the wake of the Arab Spring, many countries in the region (and elsewhere) are still engaged in the long and complex process of growing democratic institutions. Central among them must be a free press.
Freedom of expression at first appeared to improve after Mursi took power, for example, when he banned the pretrial detention of journalists in August 2012, but it soon became clear that Mursi was as hostile to critical media coverage as his predecessors. Physical attacks on journalists grew during Mursi’s tenure, and a number of journalists were arrested on charges including those for “insulting the president.”
Among the best-known cases was that of Bassem Youssef, a television comedian who was arrested in March 2013 and charged with insulting Mursi and Islam. These charges were eventually dropped. Youssef’s show returned briefly in October 2013, but he soon faced a new investigation for criticising the military leadership. The show’s broadcaster, CBC, pulled it from the air on November 1.
Censorship, both official and self-imposed, is widespread. A video leaked in October showed senior army leaders discussing the need for a reassertion of “red lines” on media criticism of the military, which they worried had been lost since the 2011 uprising. The officers complained that scrutiny of the government was not “normal,” and encouraged Al Sisi to pressure media owners to self-censor their coverage of military affairs. Also in the period after the coup, many Muslims were caught up in the government’s crackdown on the Brotherhood and its perceived supporters. Anyone whose appearance or dress suggested adherence to a conservative form of Islam was reportedly at risk of arrest or harassment. The government in September banned approximately 55,000 unlicensed Imams from giving sermons and required licensed applicants to receive training from Al Azhar University or certification by official and state-supervised institution. The ban was designed to silence preachers who the government considered were against its policies and were extremist.
Commenting on the court’s decisions on the Qatari channel, Al Anstey, Aljazeera English managing director, said the verdicts defied “logic, sense, and any semblance of justice”. “Today three colleagues and friends were sentenced, and will continue to be kept behind bars for doing a brilliant job of being great journalists. ‘Guilty’ of covering stories with great skill and integrity. ‘Guilty’ of defending people’s right to know what is going on in their world,” Anstey said in a statement.
“Peter, Mohamed, and Baher and six other colleagues were sentenced despite the fact that not a shred of evidence was found to support the extraordinary and false charges against them. At no point during the long drawn out ‘trial’ did the absurd allegations stand up to scrutiny.
Amnesty International described the verdicts as a “dark day for media freedom”. “
This is a devastating verdict for the men and their families, and a dark day for media freedom in Egypt, when journalists are being locked up and branded criminals or ‘terrorists’ simply for doing their job,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
The writer is a professor of Public Relations and Mass Communication at the College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University.
