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Al-Jazeera satellite channel sues the Egyptian authorities

February 5, 2014 at 10:30 am

Qatari-owned satellite channel Al-Jazeera has filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian authorities. The channel’s London-based lawyers have accused the regime of arresting some of the channel’s reporters without any reason.

 


The network said that it has commissioned Carter-Ruck, a legal firm that specialises in international law, to initiate legal action before the international courts and the United Nations on charges of harassment.

 

Since the deposition of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on July 3, the channel explained that “a large number” of its correspondents have been arrested and detained by the Egyptian security forces “without any reason or on spurious and politically motivated charges”.

The channel accused the Egyptian police and army of harassing its correspondents, noting that some of its offices have been shut down and its transmission has been jammed. The channel commissioned “independent experts” who identified military installations in the east and west of Cairo as the source of the jamming.

A spokesman for the channel said in a statement that, “Al-Jazeera cannot be complacent with this situation.”

The Egyptian authorities and state-run media accuse Al-Jazeera of showing bias in its coverage of the bloody events that have followed the deposition of President Morsi after the massive demonstrations demanding his departure on 30 June.