SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
#FreeAJStaff: 'Global Day of Action' Held for Jailed Journalists
Al Jazeera staff behind bars for over 100 days in Egypt in what many are calling 'trial of journalism itself'
Apr 07, 2014
People around the world took time out of their day on Monday to show support once again for four Al Jazeera journalists who have now been detained in Egypt for over 100 days.
In the second global day of action called by the Al Jazeera Media Network, supporters used the social media hashtag #FreeAJStaff on sites such as Facebook and Twitter to demand the release of journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been held in jail in Egypt for 100 days, and Abdullah al-Shami, who has been held for more than six months and has been on hunger strike since January 23.
Tweets about "#FreeAJStaff OR #journalismisnotacrime lang:en"
The news network held a press conference in New York at the Paley Center for Media while multiple news outlets, press advocates, and supporters took part in the day of action--such as BBC News, who held a Journalist Safety Symposium and hosted a protest in London.
"Attendees taped their mouths and held signs that read 'journalism is not a crime,"' Al Jazeera reports.
Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed were arrested in their hotel in Cairo on Dec. 29 by Egyptian authorities and accused of spreading false news and belonging to a "terrorist group."
The journalists could face up to 15 years in prison in what many are calling a "trial of journalism itself." In total, 20 journalists are currently on trial in Egypt. Twelve of them are being tried in absentia. Nine are Al Jazeera employees.
"Mohamed, Baher, and Peter have now been behind bars in Egypt for 100 days for simply doing their job, and for carrying out the highest quality journalism," said Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English. "The charges against them are false and baseless, so there is no justification whatsoever in the detention of innocent journalists for such an outrageous amount of time.
"We continue to call for their immediate release and for the release of our colleague from Al Jazeera Arabic, Abdullah Al Shamy, who has been behind bars for 236 days."
______________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
People around the world took time out of their day on Monday to show support once again for four Al Jazeera journalists who have now been detained in Egypt for over 100 days.
In the second global day of action called by the Al Jazeera Media Network, supporters used the social media hashtag #FreeAJStaff on sites such as Facebook and Twitter to demand the release of journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been held in jail in Egypt for 100 days, and Abdullah al-Shami, who has been held for more than six months and has been on hunger strike since January 23.
Tweets about "#FreeAJStaff OR #journalismisnotacrime lang:en"
The news network held a press conference in New York at the Paley Center for Media while multiple news outlets, press advocates, and supporters took part in the day of action--such as BBC News, who held a Journalist Safety Symposium and hosted a protest in London.
"Attendees taped their mouths and held signs that read 'journalism is not a crime,"' Al Jazeera reports.
Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed were arrested in their hotel in Cairo on Dec. 29 by Egyptian authorities and accused of spreading false news and belonging to a "terrorist group."
The journalists could face up to 15 years in prison in what many are calling a "trial of journalism itself." In total, 20 journalists are currently on trial in Egypt. Twelve of them are being tried in absentia. Nine are Al Jazeera employees.
"Mohamed, Baher, and Peter have now been behind bars in Egypt for 100 days for simply doing their job, and for carrying out the highest quality journalism," said Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English. "The charges against them are false and baseless, so there is no justification whatsoever in the detention of innocent journalists for such an outrageous amount of time.
"We continue to call for their immediate release and for the release of our colleague from Al Jazeera Arabic, Abdullah Al Shamy, who has been behind bars for 236 days."
______________________
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
People around the world took time out of their day on Monday to show support once again for four Al Jazeera journalists who have now been detained in Egypt for over 100 days.
In the second global day of action called by the Al Jazeera Media Network, supporters used the social media hashtag #FreeAJStaff on sites such as Facebook and Twitter to demand the release of journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been held in jail in Egypt for 100 days, and Abdullah al-Shami, who has been held for more than six months and has been on hunger strike since January 23.
Tweets about "#FreeAJStaff OR #journalismisnotacrime lang:en"
The news network held a press conference in New York at the Paley Center for Media while multiple news outlets, press advocates, and supporters took part in the day of action--such as BBC News, who held a Journalist Safety Symposium and hosted a protest in London.
"Attendees taped their mouths and held signs that read 'journalism is not a crime,"' Al Jazeera reports.
Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed were arrested in their hotel in Cairo on Dec. 29 by Egyptian authorities and accused of spreading false news and belonging to a "terrorist group."
The journalists could face up to 15 years in prison in what many are calling a "trial of journalism itself." In total, 20 journalists are currently on trial in Egypt. Twelve of them are being tried in absentia. Nine are Al Jazeera employees.
"Mohamed, Baher, and Peter have now been behind bars in Egypt for 100 days for simply doing their job, and for carrying out the highest quality journalism," said Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English. "The charges against them are false and baseless, so there is no justification whatsoever in the detention of innocent journalists for such an outrageous amount of time.
"We continue to call for their immediate release and for the release of our colleague from Al Jazeera Arabic, Abdullah Al Shamy, who has been behind bars for 236 days."
______________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.