Calling the sentences “unjustifiable”, the IPI Executive Board said that prosecutors failed to provide relevant evidence in court to support accusations that journalists Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed aired false news and aided the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation banned in Egypt.

Reminding Egypt of its constitutional and international obligations to respect the right to freedom of expression, IPI urged El-Sisi to immediately grant a full presidential pardon to all journalists convicted in Egypt in connection with their work.

The full text of the letter appears below.

His Excellency
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Heliopolis Palace
Cairo, Egypt

Vienna, June 26, 2014

Re: Conviction and Sentencing of Al Jazeera Journalists

Your Excellency,

As members of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of leading publishers, editors and journalists, we are deeply concerned by the recent convictions and sentencing of three Al Jazeera journalists currently imprisoned in Egypt, as well as by six other sentences pronounced against journalists in absentia.

Three well-respected journalists – Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed – have been held in Egyptian custody for the past nine months. On Monday, Greste and Fahmy were sentenced to prison terms of seven years and Mohamed was sentenced to 10 years behind bars. These sentences are unjustifiable, with no real evidence having been presented in court proceedings.

Fahmy, Greste and Mohamed were charged with broadcasting fabricated news reports and assisting the Muslim Brotherhood in spreading negative propaganda critical of the Egyptian state. It is worth noting that Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization only days before the journalists’ arrest.

Furthermore, when asked to provide evidence in court, the prosecution did not present anything relevant. Instead, they submitted unrelated evidence including personal photos from family vacation and previous news reports filmed in other countries, as well as a news report apparently made when none of the journalists were in Egypt.

We would like to remind Your Excellency that Egypt has signed and ratified international human rights treaties – including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – that include clear provisions requiring states to ensure respect of the right to freedom of expression. The imprisonment and lengthy sentence of Al Jazeera journalists – and any other journalist currently jailed in Egypt for their work – is a clear violation of international commitments.

Furthermore, in January 2014, Egyptian voters approved an amended Constitution which includes strong guarantees for freedom of expression and bans government interference in the news media. This is a clear expression of the will of the people in Egypt to live in a country where their fundamental liberties are respected and their right to know is not limited under the pretext of too-broadly understood anti-state charges.

We believe that the ability of foreign and local news media to freely cover important political developments in Egypt is an essential part of building a more stable and democratic Egypt. A free press, both local and foreign, is an essential safeguard for the protection of the democratic rights of the people. Actions aimed at silencing critical media, such as the egregious sentences handed down on June 23, undercut assertions that Egypt has embraced democracy and they constitute a serious blemish on the country’s record.

Accordingly, we urge you and all authorities in Egypt to abide by the new constitutional protections regarding press freedom and freedom of expression.

With this letter, we join a multitude of voices – including those of governments, human rights groups, journalists and private citizens – in urging Your Excellency to immediately grant a full presidential pardon to all journalists sentenced in Egypt in connection with their work.

Yours sincerely,
IPI Chair
Galina Sidorova, Chairperson, Foundation for Investigative Journalism – Foundation 19/29, Russia
IPI Vice Chairs
Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Editor-in-Chief & CEO, Boishakhi TV, Bangladesh
Ken MacQuarrie, Director, BBC Scotland, UK
John Yearwood, World Editor, The Miami Herald, USA
IPI Executive Board Members
Owais Aslam Ali, Chairman, Pakistan Press International (PPI), Pakistan
George Brock, Professor and Head of Journalism, City University, UK
Carl-Eugen Eberle, Former Director of Legal Affairs, ZDF German Television, Germany
Michael Ehrenreich, Editor, Denmark
Sami El Haj, Head, Human Rights and Public Liberties Desk, Al Jazeera Media Network, Qatar
Linus Gitahi, Group CEO, Nation Media Group, Kenya
Daniel Hadad, CEO, Grupo Infobae, Argentina
Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa
Tom Hetland, Editor, Stavanger Aftenblad, Norway
Daoud Kuttab, Director General, Community Media Network; Founder, AmmanNet, Jordan
Pavol Múdry, Founder and Former General Manager, SITA-Slovak News Agency, Slovakia
Umud Mirzayev, Chairman, International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), Azerbaijan
Kaius Niemi, Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat, Sanoma Media, Finland
N. Ravi, Editor-in-Chief and Director, The Hindu, India
Martha Steffens, Professor, SABEW Chair in Business and Financial Reporting, University of Missouri School of Journalism, USA
Dawn Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, One Caribbean Media Ltd., Trinidad & Tobago
Ferai Tinç, Former Foreign Editor and Columnist, Hürriyet, Turkey
Toshihiko Uji, Advisor, Chunichi Shimbun, Japan
Kabiru Yusuf, Chairman, Media Trust Ltd, Nigeria

International Press Institute

This he said while speaking at a function, organized by the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) at a local hotel to mark the World Press Freedom Day. He said that there was a demand for shifting the venue of trial court proceedings of the case of slain media person in the context of the case of slain Geo News TV journalist Wali Khan Babar as recently convictions were secured against the killers of Wali Babar by shifting his trial court case to a town in interior Sindh.

On the demand of Owais Aslam Ali, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, said the trial court proceedings related to the murder case of slain media person Munir Sangi, belonging to Larkana, would be shifted to any other town of the province in accordance with the demands of heirs in the family of the deceased media person.

Memon said that the Pakistan People’s Party’s government in the province would never accept the shutting down of the publication of Daily Jang or the closure of the transmission of Geo TV as it would be in sheer violation of principles of freedom of the media.

He said that Geo TV (Jang Group) is a big organization and we are proud of it, adding that the PPP always supported the cause of freedom of press.

Memon said the PPP government would always be tolerant to criticism, due or undue, being propagated by Geo News but it would never accept the complete shutting down of transmission of the channel. He said the all television channels and outlets of the media should have full freedom to criticize governments but they should never be penalized in the form of shutting down their transmission.

The Sindh information minister said the present situation in the country, where different institutions and sections of the society had become highly polarized in the aftermath of the attack on Hamid Mir, had been going highly in favor of enemies of the country. He regretted that nobody was available on the current scenario to defuse the situation in an amicable manner through talks and negotiations. Rather every other person is found active on the scene trying to add fuel to the fire.

Memon said that he would never support the latest stance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan for boycotting the Daily Jang and Geo TV as such a decision would be completely against the spirit of freedom of the media and the principles of democracy.

He said the media and journalistic fraternity in the country should observe complete freedom and solidarity among their ranks to give support and uphold the cause of freedom of the press. He said ensuring freedom of press was a compulsory condition for the continuity of democracy in the country.

He said that media institutions, TV channels and newspapers should not be subjected to censorship or restrictions as the media should embark upon the course of self-regulation, self-reform, and self-discipline as it has always been the norm in a democratic regime.

Other speakers at the forum said the media and journalists’ fraternity would never accept shutting down any newspaper or television channel by the establishment as such an act would create serious repercussions for the independence of the press and for the existence and future of other media institutions in the country.

They also eulogized the journalistic services of injured Geo News senior anchorperson Hamid Mir as saying that the armed attack on his life on the evening of April 19, 2014 could only be perceived as the attack on the freedom of press in the country. They said the only crime committed by Hamid Mir, owing to which he was attacked, was that he had become the representative voice of downtrodden Pakistanis, especially because he had upheld the cause of the people of Balochistan struggling for their long-denied rights.

They said the journalists’ fraternity, regardless of the conflicting business interests of media houses, had complete unity in their ranks for the cause of freedom of press and in no way were they ready to accept any propaganda being aired regarding the attack on the life of Hamid Mir.

Editor of Daily Jang Nazir Leghari said the establishment, which at present had been trying to brand Jang and Geo TV as disloyal to the state, in the past had declared the leaders of East Pakistan AK Fazlul Haq and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who in fact had been at the forefront in the struggle for the creation of Pakistan, as traitors. He said the same tyrannical fashion of the state for unduly awarding certificates of disloyalty had dated back to the times of Socrates as the famous Greek philosopher had been sentenced to death while declaring him an enemy of the state.

He said the 180 million population of the country would never be affected by the propaganda of the establishment as it would always hold Hamid Mir in high esteem as the torchbearer of the struggle for securing the rights of the people of Pakistan.

He said the dissenting voice of the media had not been stifled during the draconian and repressive military and martial law rule of the 1980s in the country and in the present modern-day, no state authority would be able to shut down publication of newspapers or transmission of TV channels through the coercive means.

He said it was high time that the owners of media houses and publishers of newspapers sort out their mutual and conflicting interests for the greater cause of freedom of media.

Tahir Najmi, Editor of Daily Express, said the journalistic fraternity had only one consensus opinion about the attack on the life of Hamid Mir that the incident was highly condemnable, tantamount to curbing the freedom of press, while the criminal elements and conspirators behind the attack, regardless of their influence or status, should be brought to justice without any undue delay.

He said the business interests of owners of media houses had been behind the present situation of division and polarization persisting on the national media scene following the attack on Hamid Mir.

He said the working journalists and their representative associations like Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists had always been in the forefront in the struggle against censorship and curbs on the media and press but associations of editors and newspaper publishers had never played their due role in securing the freedom of press.

Saeed Khawar, Resident Editor of Daily Nawa-e-Waqat Karachi, said the media institutions should show harmony in their relationship with each other so that there should be no damage to the cause of freedom of the media.

He said the shutting down of any TV channel or newspaper in the country would be perceived as an act of the state in total disrespect of morality and ethical norms being considered necessary for freedom of the media in the country.

Dr Jabbar Khattak, secretary-general of CPNE, said the democratically elected governments had always been tolerant to criticism of the media and press against their policies while military regimes in the country had always tried to stifle the voice of the dissenting media.

Aamir Mahmood of CPNE also said the CPNE as the representative forum of working and publisher editors in the country would never accept the present form of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), and its repressive laws, mainly due to abnormal constitution of the electronic media regulator. He said Pemra in the present form was not in a position to consider any application forwarded to it for revoking the license of any TV channel.

Vice-president CPNE and chairman of its Sindh Committee Shaheen Qureshi said that World Press Freedom Day in the country should be observed from next year as the day to commemorate Shuhuda (martyrs) of journalism in the country as over 100 journalists in the country had so far laid down their lives for upholding the cause of freedom of the press.

Pakistan Press International

This he said while answering to various questions asked by Ifex in connection with its International Day to End Impunity campaign. Two other A. Rehman, Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Shahzad Ahmad, the Country Director of Bytes for All Pakistan also shared thoughts and experiences regarding impunity in Pakistan.

Owais Aslam Ali said that according to figures, 55 journalists have been killed in Pakistan in the last ten years, and 36 of them were deliberately targeted and murdered because of their work. For every journalist who has been deliberately targeted and murdered, there are many others who have been injured, threatened and coerced into silence. He added that many journalists have been forced to migrate from danger zones due to alarming increase in violence and threats, moreover intimidation has forced others to self-censor, particularly in the conflict areas. Security issues remain the biggest threat for journalists in Pakistan.

Replying to a question about women reporters facing different types of risks, Owais Aslam said that reporting remained almost exclusively a male domain especially in rural and conflict areas. However,
situation in the newly emerging television sector is slightly better, as women reporters are accompanied by a team including cameramen and producers, which provides more security. Still the public sexual harassment or molestation of women by men is endemic in Pakistani society, and no steps have been taken by the media employers, unions or press clubs, except mere lip service, to encourage women to enter the field of reporting in substantial numbers.

Owais Aslam said that in March 2013, PPF played its due role at the International Conference on Safety and Security of Pakistani Journalists: Promoting Collaborative Approaches to Combat Impunity, which resulted in the formation of the Pakistan Coalition on Media Safety (PCOMS). PCOMS supports the UN Action Plan Against Impunity as well as its focus on Pakistan as one of the pilot countries, and aims to help, support and reinforce its implementation. PPF also agreed to host the Secretariat of PCOMS.

A. Rehman said that impunity poses one of the most serious challenges to the rule of law in Pakistan and to citizens’ basic rights. Officials almost always get away with extra-judicial killings. Enforced disappearances are a major issue in Pakistan, and no state functionary has been prosecuted. He said that HR defenders face serious challenges in Pakistan and three activists working for the HRCP have been killed. Two have had to be relocated.

Shahzad Ahmad said that many state authorities as well as non-state actors in Pakistan enjoy impunity, and nearly all of them are opposed to the ideals of freedom of expression, whereas vague laws, court jurisdiction issues and weakening writ of the government in several conflict areas contribute to their impunity. Expression in digital spaces is curtailed by the authorities, using excuses like national security, morality and religious harmony.

Owais Aslam said that registration, investigation and prosecution of criminal cases against the perpetrators of violence against media; establishment of an independent commission for monitoring of cases of violence and intimidation; imparting training to journalists especially those in rural areas; development of “operating procedures” by media organizations and sensitization of the owners and editors to the realities and threats being faced by journalists would help ending the culture of impunity in Pakistan.

These experts were of the opinion that ending impunity in Pakistan is a big challenge and UN Plan of Action can prove effective only if the government is forced to abide by it. Sensitization of all stakeholders including the government, law enforcement agencies, media organizations, civil society organizations etc is necessary to end the culture of impunity.

Click the link below for more Information:
INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END IMPUNITY

Quoting information from Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in a letter to the Prime Minister of Morocco, Jajili was charged with criminal defamation in connection with an article about Abdelkader Amara, minister of manufacture and trade in the current Islamic government. He has asked for wine in his room during an official trip to Burkina Faso, abroad.

Amara denied the accusation at first and accused Jajili of fabricating the story, after that Jajili have submitted the invoices of the hotel in which he was resident that proves he requested the alcohol drinks during his residency.

Jajili will appear before the court on January 28, 2013, and the expected penalty according to Moroccan press law, will be imprisonment for a year and a fine of 100.000 (11.955 USD).

PPF condemns the criminal defamation charges against journalist Jajili and calls on the Moroccan government to drop all charges against him and to take the matter into consideration to respect freedom of opinion and expression.

Pakistan Press Foundation