Guildhall protest against repression of media in Egypt

The protest follows the sentencing of Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy to seven years imprisonment on charges of ‘spreading false news.’

A third journalist, Baher Mohamed, was sentenced to an additional three years for possession of ammunition.

Mohamed was in posession of a spent bullet he found on the ground during a protest.

Other Al Jazeera journalists, Alaa Bayoumi, Anas Abdel-Wahab Khalawi Hasan, Khaleel Aly Khaleel Bahnasy, Mohamed Fawzi, Dominic Kane, Rena Netjes and Sue Turton have been sentenced to 10 years in absentia.

The NUJ stated: “Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed, Alaa Bayoumi, Anas Abdel-Wahab Khalawi Hasan, Khaleel Aly Khaleel Bahnasy, Mohamed Fawzi, Dominic Kane, Rena Netjes and Sue Turton are journalists. They are not terrorists.

“They are not criminals. They are journalists who have been jailed for doing their jobs.

“This is a violation of the right to freedom of expression which must be condemned by the international community.”

The union is urging its members to join the protest or to write to Ambassador Sherif Elkholi at the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin at [email protected]