EGYPT COURT ACQUITS CAMERAMAN, DETAINED SINCE JULY

Cairo, 2 Rabiul Akhir 1435/2 February 2014 (MINA) – An Egyptian court has acquitted a cameraman, along with 16 other defendants, accused of participating in clashes in Cairo, Judicial sources say.

Mohamed Badr, who worked for Qatar’s state-run broadcaster Al Jazeera, was accused of being involved in clashes that broke out in Ramses Square in central Cairo, during mass protests against the Egyptian army’s ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

The Egyptian national had been held in custody since July. Badr’s lawyer Shaaban Saeed confirmed his release, saying, “His release is expected tomorrow.” Press tv reported quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

His acquittal comes days after the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) voiced concern over the “increasingly severe clampdown and physical attacks,” on journalists in Egypt.

“In recent months, there have been numerous reports of harassment, detention and prosecution of national and international journalists as well as violent attacks, including several that led to injuries to reporters trying to cover last weekend’s third anniversary of the Egyptian revolution,” Rupert Colville, the commissioner’s spokesman said in a statement on Friday.

The UNHCR also expressed concern about 20 other Al Jazeera journalists who were arrested on Wednesday on charges of portraying the country in a state of “civil war” and “airing false news.”

The detained journalists- including 16 Egyptians, two Britons, a Dutch national, and an Australian- are also accused of collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood, which was declared a “terrorist organization” by the interim government in December 2013.

The move has been strongly condemned by international organizations, with Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty saying that the decision to indict the journalists “sends the chilling message that only one narrative is acceptable in Egypt today…, that which is sanctioned by the Egyptian authorities.”

Tensions have been running high in Egypt since the ouster of Morsi by the military on July 3, when the army also dissolved the parliament, suspended the constitution, and appointed head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Mansour, as the interim president.

Since Morsi’s ouster, demonstrations have been held on an almost daily basis.(T/P04/IR)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

 

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