Egypt faces battlecry to release journalists

Employees and supporters of the television network Al-Jazeera hold up signs as they protest the imprisonment of Al-Jazeera journalists in Egypt, at the Newseum, near the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, February 27, 2014. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A new battlecry has emerged against Egypt, this time, a cry for journalistic freedom.

According to international news agency Al Jazeera, 50,000 strong petitioners called on Egypt for the release of its three journalists who are facing trial in Cairo.

Mohammed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohammed of Al Jazeera English are in court today while Abdullah Elshamy of Al Jazeera Arabic has been detained without charge since August.

Al Jazeera and Avaaz, a campaigning community, joined forces to launch a wordlwide campaign calling on Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against the reporters, who already denied any wrongdoing.

“Because of the crackdown on press freedom in Egypt, these journalists could be locked up for nothing more than doing their job,” Avaaz Campaign Director Sam Barratt said.

Fahmy, Greste and Mohammed were arrested on Dec. 29 on charges of “spreading false news” and were alleged to have ties to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

“If leaders in Cairo want to be treated as a legitimate government, they should start acting like one and listen to people from across the world who are calling on them to release these brave reporters,” Barratt said.

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