Lawyers call for immediate transfer of Aljazeera journalist to Canada

The lawyers acting for Mohamed Fahmy have called for the Aljazeera journalist to be transferred to Canada by the Egyptian authorities. Amal Clooney and Laurent Waldman said that the president of Egypt has the power to pardon the Canadian citizen, who was sentenced to seven years in prison last week, having been found guilty of “reporting false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood”. Clooney and Waldman described Fahmy’s sentence as “unjust”.

“President Al-Sisi has the power under Article 155 of the Egyptian Constitution to grant Fahmy and his journalist colleagues a pardon at any time,” they added. “He also has the power to deport him for health reasons.”

In reporting the case, Anadolu said that the lawyers’ statement did not mention anything about the state of the journalist’s health. Fahmy’s family could not be contacted for a comment on this.

Although the highest court in Egypt has decided to retry Fahmy, said his lawyers, this would be a lengthy process with an uncertain outcome. “He should, therefore, be transferred to Canada immediately.”

Fahmy himself issued a statement through Clooney and Waldman. He said that he understands the “limited” ability of the Canadian government to help him based on the diplomatic codes, but he stressed that if the Canadian prime minister wanted to do so, he could do something.

In a message published by the Huffington Post, Clooney and another lawyer claimed that the allegations against Fahmy are not true and were not backed by any evidence at the trial. “Fahmy has never supported the Muslim Brotherhood. There was no evidence presented at trial that showed that he ever fabricated a report or knowingly made a false statement. He is serving a draconian sentence for simply reporting the news.”