Editors voice outrage over scribes’ jailing

Journalists with banners calling for the release of Al-Jazeera network's Peter Greste at the Egyptian Embassy in Nairobi. The Kenya Editors’ Guild conviction and jailing of Greste and two other Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed by an Egyptian court.

By  NATION REPORTER

What you need to know:

  • The Kenya Editors’ Guild said in a statement that it was shocked, and condemned the decision as “one of the most serious assaults on media freedom in recent times”.
  • “The trial was a mockery of justice, an indictment of the Egyptian judicial system and brazen assault on the media freedom,” said the guild’s chairman, Mr Macharia Gaitho.
  • The court on Monday convicted Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, spreading false news and endangering national security.

Kenya’s editors have joined the world in condemning the conviction and jailing of Al Jazeera journalists by an Egyptian court.

The Kenya Editors’ Guild said in a statement that it was shocked, and condemned the decision as “one of the most serious assaults on media freedom in recent times”.

The court on Monday convicted Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, spreading false news and endangering national security.

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A sham trial

The editor’s guild accused the court of a sham trial, leading to its decision to sentence Greste and Fahmy to seven years each and Mohamed to 10 years in prison.

“The trial was a mockery of justice, an indictment of the Egyptian judicial system and brazen assault on the media freedom,” said the guild’s chairman, Mr Macharia Gaitho.

The editors asked Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to grant the three a presidential clemency. Information and Communication minister Fred Matiang’i also condemned the court.

“We don’t purport to be others’ prefects or commissars, but we think what happened is not right.” He added that the jail terms were “neither fair nor right” and indicated that Kenya would reach out to world leaders on the matter.

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