Sunday, September 6, 2015

Egypt’s Reputation Tarnished by Ruling Against Journalists for Allegedly Tarnishing Egypt’s Reputation

The official word is that three journalists for al-Jazeera were re-convicted in Egypt after their previous conviction was overturned surrounding charges that they and their entire new organization were permanent members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization and the backers of the previous Egyptian regime. That part is confusing enough, but it gets worse.

The journalists, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, were operating from a Cairo Marriott during the ousting of the previous government under Mohamed Morsi. They have been accused of reporting “false news” about certain events, operating without proper press credentials, and having a spent bullet casing. Third-party observers to the trial said that the evidence was not what most would consider to be real and that the entire incident seems to be politically motivated.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi seems to agree and has expressed displeasure with the entire circumstance. Al-Jazeera plans to appeal and are also calling on the President to pardon the men.

The whole episode seems like a political version of the Streisand Effect.

“It’s ironic that the conviction was for tarnishing Egypt’s reputation when this is what’s tarnished Egypt’s image,” Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney told the BBC. “I do think he’s aware of that and he has a way to fix it.”

Amal Clooney

This will quickly turn from tarnishing their reputation into an international debacle if the President doesn’t make it right. Twitter is already discussing it. Soon, the only news coverage allowed in the country will be details of the upcoming Yanni concert by the pyramids.



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