Visit granted to family of jailed Canadian journo in Egypt

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont.

A Canadian journalist sentenced to three years in an Egyptian jail was allowed family visitors on Tuesday, even as his government requested a pardon for his release.

Relatives must usually wait 30 days following a conviction before they can visit inmates, but Egyptian authorities allowed Mohamed Fahmy’s wife, Marwa, and his brother, Adel, to see the beleaguered Al Jazeeera journalist, reported the Toronto Star.

Fahmy is “well and strong” and has not given up hope of receiving a pardon and returning to Canada, Adel said. He suffers from Hepatitis C but received medication, along with other supplies like toiletries and food, from his family.

Marwa told the Star on Monday that the Canadian government has formally requested Fahmy be pardoned or deported and she “implored” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to secure her husband’s release, according to the Canadian Press (CP).

“I just hope the Canadian government gets Mohamed out from here,” she told CP from Cairo.

Fahmy, who was out on bail while awaiting verdict in his second trial, was sentenced to three years on Saturday by an Egyptian court.

He was arrested in December 2013, along with two colleagues who were also working for the English division of Al Jazeera, on terrorism charges -- bringing in equipment without security approval, failing to register with the country’s news syndicate and broadcasting “false news”.

Fahmy and Baher Mohamed had already spent 411 days in jail before Saturday’s verdict.

The charges were widely condemned and even Egyptian President Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi expressed disappointment with the original sentence of seven to 10 years and said it could have “negative consequences”.

Many expected that the retrial, held after their appeal was granted, would result in their release. Their colleague Peter Greste was deported to his native Australia several days before the retrial began in February and the case, which drew sharp criticism from democratic governments worldwide, was an embarrassment to Egypt.

But judge Hassan Farid found the journalists guilty on the charges of false news and failure to register.

The verdicts were termed by Amnesty International as “an affront to justice that sound the death knell for freedom of expression in Egypt”.

Abdel said the family wants the Canadian government to do more to get Fahmy released.

“We’re calling for a more determined and powerful intervention than ever before,” he said. “The strongest push by Canada for a release of their citizen, Mohamed, just as Australia did for Peter.”

A pardon or deportation order would have to come from Sisi, who was on his way to China on Tuesday, as part of a tour of Asia.

New Democrat Party (NDP) leader Thomas Mulcair took up Fahmy's cause on Tuesday, and telephoned the Egyptian ambassador to Canada, the Huffington Post Canada reported online.

The NDP said Mulcair emphasized that Canada needed a response from Egypt’s president about a pardon or deportation for Fahmy.

The party said the ambassador, who is based in the embassy in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, promised to relay the request to Sisi.

"Mohamed Fahmy is being jailed for doing his job as a journalist," Muclair said, following the call. "That's why the Canadian government should be doing something to help Mohamed Fahmy," he added.