Extract from The Guardian
Five
journalists have been killed, at least 125 jailed and many more face
harassment under military controlled regime since July 2013, according
to Reporters Without Borders
The imprisonment of Australian journalist Peter Greste has
overshadowed Egypt’s active persecution of at least 100 of its own
journalists, according to an exile who has fled to the US.
Yehia Ghanem, a journalist who edited the leading Egyptian newspaper, al-Ahram, said reporters in the country risked imprisonment and physical attack if they fell foul of an establishment heavily controlled by the military.
Ghanem fled Egypt last year after being sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for setting up a journalism training school with $900,000 of funding from the US state department.
Ghanem was one of 43 workers convicted for what the court alleged was a conspiracy to divide Egypt.
The journalist, who left his wife and three children behind to flee to the US, said the imprisonment of Greste and his al-Jazeera English colleagues is just the latest in a string of such convictions.
“With Peter Greste, I feel his pain because the day when the sentence came down it brought back all of the bad memories and nightmares I went through,” Ghanem told the ABC.
“I have to draw attention to at least 100 Egyptian journalists that nobody talks about. My heart goes out to them because I know what they are going through. I understand the injustice that has been inflicted upon them.”
Ghanem said his son was attacked by other children, resulting in two broken arms, after he attempted to defend his father’s name.
“That was one of the toughest moments because I felt so helpless,” he said. “I thought I should report the children but I backed off because they are not criminals. It’s the media in my country (which is to blame), which is unfortunately controlled by the military.”
According to Reporters Without Borders, five journalists have been killed at least 125 have been arbitrarily arrested in Egypt since July 2013.
Greste was one of 20 al-Jazeera journalists – 16 of them Egyptians – who were arrested for “broadcasting false information” and aiding a terrorist organisation.
Greste was jailed for seven years earlier this week, with his and his colleagues’ imprisonment provoking outrage among overseas governments, including Australia’s.
In a statement posted on Facebook in the wake of the verdict, Greste said he was devastated by the sentence, adding: "The verdict confirms that our trial was never simply about the charges against us. It has been an attempt to use the court to intimidate and silence critical voices in the media."
Yehia Ghanem, a journalist who edited the leading Egyptian newspaper, al-Ahram, said reporters in the country risked imprisonment and physical attack if they fell foul of an establishment heavily controlled by the military.
Ghanem fled Egypt last year after being sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for setting up a journalism training school with $900,000 of funding from the US state department.
Ghanem was one of 43 workers convicted for what the court alleged was a conspiracy to divide Egypt.
The journalist, who left his wife and three children behind to flee to the US, said the imprisonment of Greste and his al-Jazeera English colleagues is just the latest in a string of such convictions.
“With Peter Greste, I feel his pain because the day when the sentence came down it brought back all of the bad memories and nightmares I went through,” Ghanem told the ABC.
“I have to draw attention to at least 100 Egyptian journalists that nobody talks about. My heart goes out to them because I know what they are going through. I understand the injustice that has been inflicted upon them.”
Ghanem said his son was attacked by other children, resulting in two broken arms, after he attempted to defend his father’s name.
“That was one of the toughest moments because I felt so helpless,” he said. “I thought I should report the children but I backed off because they are not criminals. It’s the media in my country (which is to blame), which is unfortunately controlled by the military.”
According to Reporters Without Borders, five journalists have been killed at least 125 have been arbitrarily arrested in Egypt since July 2013.
Greste was one of 20 al-Jazeera journalists – 16 of them Egyptians – who were arrested for “broadcasting false information” and aiding a terrorist organisation.
Greste was jailed for seven years earlier this week, with his and his colleagues’ imprisonment provoking outrage among overseas governments, including Australia’s.
In a statement posted on Facebook in the wake of the verdict, Greste said he was devastated by the sentence, adding: "The verdict confirms that our trial was never simply about the charges against us. It has been an attempt to use the court to intimidate and silence critical voices in the media."
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