Re: Amal Alamuddin and her work

by annemarie Fri 16 Oct 2015, 17:38

So they are back in Los Angeles .

by hathaross Fri 16 Oct 2015, 23:09

At their L.A. house.

You can see photo on the fireplace, Bud or Lou, Max, Angel with the dogs.....

by Donnamarie Sat 17 Oct 2015, 00:28

..... and the pool table in one camera shot. Very Happy

by amaretti Sat 17 Oct 2015, 00:30

Cool . Pool table . Very Happy

by Donnamarie Tue 20 Oct 2015, 13:54

Wonder how Amal reacted to the the election results in Canada yesterday. Stephen Harper out and liberal party (Trudeau) wins. After the Fahmy case and the accusations that the Harper administration didn't aggressively pursue Fahmy's release me think a bit of celebration in the Clooney household.

by party animal - not! Wed 21 Oct 2015, 01:48

Article about the Maldives written by Amal and Jared Genser:

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by Donnamarie Tue 24 Nov 2015, 13:25

Mohammed Fahmy was on the NBC cable news show this morning. He spoke of his imprisonment in Egyptian prison and how he coped by creating a close bond with his fellow journalist cellmates. He was critical of many middle eastern countries cracking down on free speech and journalists. He was not complementary of his employer Al Jazeera.

Most striking and telling was how he watched young men who were in prison for nothing more than protesting and how they were influenced by the radical factions also imprisoned. He said it's a very big problem. There are many imprisoned Al Queda, ISIS and other radicals who are really doing nothing more than recruiting young disillusioned and confused young men during their incarceration. Essentially a breeding ground for future terrorists.

Fahmy presents himself well and is a really good speaker. i hope he will continue to speak out against the mistreatment/imprisonment of journalists around the world. He must be writing a book. He has a great story to tell.

by carolhathaway Tue 24 Nov 2015, 20:03

Donna,
I thought the same when I watched the interview with him and Amal last month at a journalist club in London (I hope I remember the place right). He is a committed talker and talks about really important issues: freedom of speech and also press freedom.
One of my collegues talked about refugees the other day. He complained about 'young men who protest against imprisoned journalists in Cairo and then come to Europe. They should shut up and stay in Egypt!' I then argued that press freedom and freedom of speech are so important rights that you really have to stand up and fight for them when they are limited. I had no chance to break his narrow-mindedness but since I know him for quite a while now I'm used to it (I mostly don't start discussions because nobody can ever persuade him from another than his own point of view). But I'm sure that we can't even imagine how different it must be for somebody to live in a country where you can't say what you think and where journalists are imprisoned because they just have a different opinion than their government. We're so used to be able to express our opinions and to use every source of press and information and to make up our own mind by comparing all these sources that we can't even imagine how difficult it must be when you can't do this. And I'm really sure that this is worth fighting for!

by party animal - not! Tue 24 Nov 2015, 21:12

It is true that he's writing a book. (I think the title is along the lines of 'Marriott cell' referring to the hotel they were in originally but I could be wrong).

The irony about the situation about free speech in Egypt is that it is one of the more lenient countries, with a background of western views, strategy and diplomacy at different times in its history.

by carolhathaway Tue 24 Nov 2015, 22:02

PAN,
I know Egypt - at least - was a lenient country balancing between the oriental tradition and the western lifestyle. One of my uncles used to live in Alexandria for about ten years during the 1980s and 90s. He worked for development aid there and was in charge of a dam construction, trained local engineers and workers and everything was fine. Then all the development workers left after the construction was completed, and when he returned after soms years he found out that it was in a horrible condition. The whole project broke down (not the dam but the drinking water supply it was built for) due to mismanagement...

And if you think how modern Turkey was 20 years ago and now turned back into quite an islamic state... One of my collegues (I have about 50 so quite a few) is married to a Turkush woman. She moved to Germany more than 20 years ago and just said the other day that every time she goes there to visit her family it feels more like the 19th century - and they live in Istanbul, not in back country...

by party animal - not! Tue 24 Nov 2015, 22:13

Your uncle's experience sounds very similar to many I know of in East Africa. Brilliant transport infrastructures have not been maintained sadly. But there are an awful lot of suits and large Mercedes!!

by Katiedot Sat 12 Dec 2015, 17:27

Found by Henway:

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Committee willl not hear from Amal Clooney law firm after criticism of Halawa case
Shane Phelan Public Affairs Editor

Published
09/12/2015 | 11:56

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Lawyer Amal Clooney

The Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee has voted not to invite lawyers for imprisoned Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa to a public hearing.

The surprise vote came after a report co-written by the law practice of Amal Clooney was critical of the Government’s efforts to secure his release from custody in Egypt.

The high profile human rights lawyer is the wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney.

Her practice, Doughty Street Chambers, is one of three sets of lawyers representing the Dublin teen and had requested an audience in front of the committee.

Mr Halawa was arrested in Cairo two years ago while protesting against the coup which toppled president Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptian authorities have linked the 19-year-old to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a banned organisation in Egypt. The Halawa family denies the link.

A motion moved by Fianna Fail senator Mark Daly for the committee to hear public testimony from Doughty Street Chambers was defeated this morning by seven votes to four.

The motion was opposed by Fine Gael TDs Pat Breen, Olivia Mitchell and Dan Neville, Fine Gael senator Michael Mullins, and Labour TDs Eric Byrne, Bernard Durkan and Derek Nolan.

Senator Daly’s motion was supported by Fianna Fail TD Brendan Smith, Sinn Fein TD Sean Crowe and Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan.

The vote was called after several members of the committee said they would rather such a meeting takes place in private.

A report last month by Doughty Street Chambers and Gilbert & Tobin Lawyers claimed the Government could seek Halawa’s repatriation under a law used to grant the release of Australian journalist Peter Greste.

The journalist was deported from Egypt earlier this year under what is known as Law 140.

This allows for prisoners to be returned to their home country to be tried or serve out their sentence, depending on the circumstances.

However, the Irish Government has maintained Law 140 cannot be applied to Mr Halawa until the criminal proceedings against him are concluded, citing advice from a former prosecutor general in Egypt.

But the report maintains Law 140 can be applied in Halawa’s case and said the Government’s position was “untenable”.

It said: “The plain terms of Law 140 make it applicable to both criminals and either suspects or accused.”

Mr Halawa, the son of Ireland’s most senior Islamic cleric, Sheikh Hussein Halawa, has twice gone on hunger strike this year.

A mass trial in which he is a defendant has been adjourned on a number of occasions and he is due before the court again next week.

The exact charges he is facing remain uncertain.

Following the vote, committee chairman Pat Breen said he would prefer “an informal meeting with the legal team”.

He said: “They have requested a meeting with us. I think we should accede to that.

“I am disappointed there was a vote on this. All of us here on the committee want this young man freed. That is our goal.

“I think the best way forward is not to deal with this like a court of law in this committee room.”

Labour TD Eric Byrne claimed Mr Halawa’s situation was being used “as a political football”.

However, Sinn Fein TD Sean Crowe said there were clearly diverging views on what the committee should do.

Senator Daly said he was disappointed the legal team would not be heard from in public.

“If there is criticism, let us hear it in public. My concern is that members of the Government do not want to hear criticism of the Department of Foreign Affairs on what they should and shouldn’t be doing,” he said.

The senator said Mr Halawa would turn 20 on December 13 and his trial would resume two days later.

“My concern remains we have been told different things at different times by the Department of Foreign Affairs as to what can and cannot be done for Ibrahim Halawa in relation to Law 140,” he said.

“Other countries have succeeded and we have failed to do the same thing for our citizen that the Australians did for Peter Greste.”

Mr Breen insisted the Irish Government was “following the same lines” as the Australians did in Mr Greste’s case.

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