Jailing the truth in Egypt

On Saturday, there was a surprise verdict in an Egyptian court. Three Al Jazeera journalists were jailed for three years each in a widely-covered retrial. The three had previously been imprisoned for a year for supposedly “spreading false news” in support of a “terrorist” group – in fact the democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood.

The previous verdict had been overturned due to what even the court admitted was a lack of evidence, but this retrial was ordered nonetheless.

One of the three, Australian journalist Peter Greste had been released in February and deported back to Australia. His colleagues Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy are both Egyptian and so have now been sent back to prison.

Their representative in court, the renowned British-Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Clooney denounced the verdict saying it “sends the dangerous message that there are judges in Egypt who will allow their courts to become instruments of political repression and propaganda”.

The verdict was denounced around the world as a politically motivated move.

“The fact that two of these journalists are now facing time in jail following two grossly unfair trials makes a mockery of justice in Egypt,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.

It is clear that the trial was a fix to shore up a dictatorial military regime. Since General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi came to power in July 2013’s military coup, thousands of innocent people have been tortured, jailed and even killed. The most infamous of the massacres was the killings of more than 1,000 protesters against the coup in August 2013.

The completely farcical nature of the “charges” against the three journalists underlines how discredited Egypt’s legal system is. This is a kangaroo court system.

In the first place, the real reason the regime outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist” group was simply that it was popular and won elections, and was thus a threat to their power. When Morsi won the first ever democratic election to Egypt’s presidency, he was opposed by the deep state because of some (extremely timid) democratic reforms he tried to make. Then, the military, which had already dissolved the elected parliament, reasserted itself and came back to direct power in the coup. Morsi now faces a death sentence, on fabricated charges.

The jailing of the Al Jazeera journalists, on zero credible evidence, also brings into sharp relief how much this injustice is the tip of the iceberg. These journalists have received a lot of attention in the international press, and it has become something of an embarrassment to the regime, even creating some diplomatic problems. (For this reason, some commentators suspect that, in an act of political theatre, Sisi may now pardon the three, in order to appear magnanimous and generous.)

But what of all the countless others unjustly jailed by the regime? Those Egyptians whose names we don’t even know? The fact is that the regime would not be able to carry on the way it does were it not for the the support from western imperial powers, significantly the US and the UK.

The British ambassador John Casson made a statement in Arabic ostensibly condemning the verdict. But in very narrow terms. Casson said he was concerned the Al Jazeera sentencings could “undermine confidence in the basis of Egypt’s stability, both in Egypt and abroad”.

Interesting wording. Another way to put it would be that Casson was worried more about the public relations hit that the regime is taking thanks to these cases, than about the fundamental injustice of imprisoning journalists for simply reporting on basic facts.

This mealy-mouthed wording echoed in some respects what Tony Blair has said in support of the regime. Blair (who, for the right price, is a friend to despotic regimes around the world) is an economic advisor to Sisi and backed the coup back in 2013, saying: “I am a strong supporter of democracy. But democratic government doesn’t on its own mean effective government. Today efficacy is the challenge.”

Prime Minister David Cameron too, is backing the Egyptian regime, having in June invited Sisi to an official visit to the UK. Human rights campaigners have condemned Cameron for issuing the invitation.

There will now be an appeal in the case of the falsely convicted Al Jazeera journalists. Sisi may well pardon them regardless. But either way, it is important to remember that their case is the tip of the iceberg, and many many innocent Egyptians are rotting in jail at the hands of the western-backed military dictatorship.

An associate editor with The Electronic Intifada, Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist who lives in London.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.