WAR AGAINST MEDIA IN CAIRO:JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME! Al-Jazeera Journalists Launch Egypt Appeal…Media Attorneys claim ‘Flaws in Arrest Procedure’ *Says: Egyptian Govt Evidence Contradict Charges *Prosecution Expert submits verbatim unrelated Statements *Jailed journalists alleged of editing footage * “The appeal will lay bare flaws in case against Peter, Baher and Mohammed”- Al Anstey, MD, Al Jazeera English * “Case, an example of a Kangaroo Court”- Alamuddin, leading international and human rights lawyer

WAR AGAINST MEDIA IN CAIRO:JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME!

Al-Jazeera Journalists Launch Egypt Appeal…Media Attorneys claim ‘Flaws in Arrest Procedure’

 *Says: Egyptian Govt Evidence Contradict Charges

*Prosecution Expert submits verbatim unrelated Statements

*Jailed journalists alleged of editing footage

* “The appeal will lay bare flaws in case against Peter, Baher and Mohammed”- Al Anstey, MD, Al Jazeera English

* “Case, an example of a Kangaroo Court”– Alamuddin, leading international and human rights lawyer

BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TEXAS          

NEVER had a ‘war against the media’ ever been won since the world came into existence. History is replete with ‘power-drunk governments’ with several atrocities and heinous crimes that tried to muzzle, intimidate and threaten the press-in the long run, the media always emerge victorious. The ‘wicked attack’ on Al-Jazeera journalists which has attracted global attention and grab world headlines is yet to bring to size the excesses of the Egyptian Government’s flagrant abuse of media rights; but the appeal being embarked upon by Al-Jazeera management and media bodies around the world would surely expose the ‘emptiness, craziness and hatred of Egypt’ against the press. One thing is sure: the Egyptian Government would be brought into opprobrium by the end of the day.

Media Attorneys filed against Press Conviction

Lawyers for the jailed Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt have recently filed appeals against Al-Jazeera journalists’ conviction.

Naija Standard gathered the weaknesses in the case have been widely protested and ridiculed, and much of the public criticism reflected in the grounds for appeal.

The case will next be heard before the Court of Cassation, which will examine the grounds for hearing a full appeal. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.

…Faults Egyptian Govt position

Submission to the court rests on the breaches of process in the case, including:

• Flaws in the arrest procedure

• The fact that evidence presented in court did not marry with the charges

• Prosecution expert technical witnesses submitted statements which were somehow

Verbatim

• The journalists were accused of editing footage, but without originals, no one could have known whether they were in fact edited

• The judge’s verdict made mention of lack of accreditation, but this is not a criminal offence

Al-Jazeera Management speak

Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, said, “The appeal will lay bare the flaws in the case against Peter, Baher and Mohammed. These are three outstanding journalists who were just doing their jobs, and journalism is not a crime. We look forward to them being exonerated in due course. We will not stop in this quest till they are reunited with their families, and back doing the jobs they love.”

The campaign to free the three – Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste, and Mohammed Fahmy – received a further boost this week when leading international and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin said they should be released, saying that the case was an example of how to set up a “kangaroo court.”