Peter Geste is one of three al-Jazeera journalists locked away, still uncharged, by the Egyptian government on bogus claims of support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Hes just written a letter from his jail cell which I found moving. Here is how it ends. Tom Writing of his two colleagues, he concludes: Fahmy and Baher have been accused of being Muslim Brotherhood members, So they are being held in the far more draconian Scorpion prison built for convicted terrorists. Fahmy has been denied the hospital treatment he badly needs for a shoulder injury he sustained shortly before our arrest. Both men spend 24 hours a day in their mosquito-infested cells, sleeping on the floor with no books or writing materials to break the soul- destroying tedium. Remember we have not been formally charged, much less convicted of any crime. But this is not just about three Al Jazeera journalists. Our arrest and continued detention sends a clear and unequivocal message to all journalists covering Egypt, both foreign and local. The state will not tolerate hearing from the Muslim Brotherhood or any other critical voices. The prisons are overflowing with anyone who opposes or challenges the government. Secular activists are sentenced to three years with hard labour for violating protest laws after declining an invitation to openly support the government; campaigners putting up No banners ahead of the constitutional referendum are summarily detained. Anyone, in short, who refuses to applaud the institution. So our arrest is not a mistake, and as a journalist this IS my battle. I can no longer pretend itll go away by keeping quiet and crossing my fingers. I have no particular fight with the Egyptian government, just as I have no interest in supporting the Muslim Brotherhood or any other group here. But as a journalist I am committed to defending a fundamental freedom of the press that no one in my profession can credibly work without. One that is deemed vital to the proper functioning of any open democracy, including Egypt’s with its new constitution. Of course we will continue to fight this from inside prison and through the judicial system here. But our freedom, and more importantly the freedom of the press here, will not come without loud sustained pressure from human rights and civil society groups, individuals and governments who understand that Egypt stability depends as much as on its ability to hold open honest conversations among its people and the world, as it does on its ability to crush violence. We know it is already happening, and all of us are both moved and strengthened by the extraordinary support we have already had, but it needs to continue. blogs.aljazeera/blog/middle-east/letter-tora-prison
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 17:43:56 +0000
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