The International Press Institute (IPI) today renewed its call on Egypt to immediately free Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, who on Wednesday will spend his 100th day in detention.
Hussein, an Egyptian national based in Doha, Qatar, was detained by Egyptian authorities on Dec. 20, when he entered the country on holiday to see his family. According to a Dec. 25 statement by the Ministry of Interior, he is accused of being a “cooperating element” of Al Jazeera inside Egypt with the aim “to continue to implement the scheme of media aimed to stir up sedition, incitement against the state institutions and to spread chaos by broadcasting false news”.
Al Jazeera has vehemently rejected those claims and reiterated that Hussein was travelling to Egypt in a non-professional capacity. The network told IPI it believes Hussein’s arrest was in retaliation for a documentary film it released in December 2016 that cast a harsh light onto Egypt’s policy of military conscription. It emphasised, however, that Hussein did not work on the documentary.
Hussein, who is also an advocate for freedom of expression and active community member, has worked with Al Jazeera since 2011 and relocated to Doha in 2013, after Al Jazeera closed its Egypt office. Egyptian authorities detained Hussein when he arrived at Cairo’s international airport and extended his detention for the fifth time for another 45 days on March 18.
According to Al Jazeera, Hussein was held in solitary confinement for more than two months, during which time he was denied visitation, including by his lawyers.
IPI Director of Press Freedom Programmes Scott Griffen reiterated IPI’s renewed concern over Hussein’s detention.
“Mr. Hussein’s detention on dubious, apparently politically motivated charges is the latest in Egypt’s long history of jailing journalists, which severely impacts upon the Egyptian public’s right to hold its leaders and institutions accountable,” Griffen said. “As Egypt has put forward no compelling evidence for the alleged crimes, Mr. Hussein must be released immediately and all charges against him dropped.”
He added: “Reports of poor treatment in detention are troubling and add to our concern for Mr. Hussein’s well-being and for his right to a fair trial.”
In a separate case, an Egyptian appeals court last Saturday gave the former head and two board members of the Press Syndicate of Egypt a one-year suspended jail sentence, according to local media reports, under the condition that the men not commit a “similar offence” within the next three years
In November, Yehia Qalash, Khaled al-Balshy and Gamal Abdel Rahim were sentenced to two years in prison for “harbouring suspects against whom an arrest warrant has been issued” and “publishing false news, which threatens public peace, related to their arrest”.
The case related to an incident in which two journalists, Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Saqqa, had sought refuge on the Syndicates’ premises after being accused of organising anti-government protests. Both journalists were arrested when heavily armed National Security Agents raided the Syndicate’s offices on May 1 and are currently awaiting trial.
