Amal Clooney 'absolutely delighted' as Al-Jazeera journalists pardoned

Considered to BBC Fahmy and Mohamed were released by Egyptian president Sisi.

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Egypt releases Al Jazeera journalists Fahmy and Mohamed

Mohammed Fahmy, a Canadian, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian, were among 100 prisoners whose release was ordered.
State media said a third person from the case was also pardoned. It is not clear if this is the Australian Peter Greste, who was deported in February.
They were sentenced to three years in prison last month after a retrial.
Prosecutors accused them of collaborating with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013.

The journalists denied the allegation and said they were simply reporting the news. Legal experts said the charges were unfounded and politically motivated.

'Long nightmare ends'

A statement from President Sisi's office issued on Wednesday said Fahmy and Mohamed were named on a decree pardoning 100 young people "who had received final court sentences, having been convicted on the grounds of violating the anti-protest law and assaulting police forces".
"Other prisoners were pardoned due to their health conditions and on humanitarian grounds," it added.
Also named were the prominent activists Yara Sallam and Sanaa Seif, who were jailed in 2014 for taking part in an "illegal protest".

After the pardons were first reported, a tweet from Mr Fahmy's account said: "Thank you to all the supporters sending us the news, we have heard and are very happy. AJ Staff is Free!"
His brother, Adel, told the BBC by telephone from Kuwait: "It's such a relief to have this long nightmare end.
"We're just so happy that this is all corrected and the truth has prevailed. He was always innocent."
Al Jazeera said in a report on its website that it "continues to demand all charges and sentences against its journalists are dropped", noting that Greste and six other employees had been convicted in absentia.
The pardons were issued by Mr Sisi ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha and a day before he travels to New York to address the UN General Assembly.
He had said he would be willing to pardon the Al Jazeera journalists once the judicial process had ended.
Fahmy, who renounced his Egyptian citizenship to qualify for deportation in February, was expected to leave for Canada following his release.

The case against the journalists began in December 2013, when they were arrested at a hotel used by Al Jazeera English to report from Cairo after its bureau was raided by police.
The journalists were initially convicted in June 2014 after a trial that was widely condemned. Greste and Fahmy were sentenced to seven years in prison, while Mohamed was given a 10-year sentence after also being found guilty of possessing a spent bullet casing.
In January, Egypt's Court of Cassation ordered a retrial after ruling that the original court had been "hasty in pronouncing its verdict".
Their convictions at retrial on 29 August were described as an "outrage" and an embarrassment for President Sisi by Amal Clooney, one of Fahmy's lawyers

That's great news that they have been released. I just head it on the BBC news as well. They must be relieved and delighted. 

Can't wait to read how Amal accomplished this all by her self. 

What the press write is not Amals fault we all know she worked with several others on this case. It is great that they have been released job well done by everyone involved.

Amal Clooney 'absolutely delighted' as Al-Jazeera journalists pardoned


Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has said she is “absolutely delighted” that the Egyptian president has pardoned two journalists for Al-Jazeera English.

The state-run MENA news agency said a third person from the case, which included a number of other defendants along with Australian journalist Peter Greste, was also pardoned but was not identified by name. Mr Greste was deported earlier this year.

The pair – Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohammed – were among about 100 people pardoned by president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on the eve of the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, and are expected to be released later today.

International counsel for Mr Fahmy, Mrs Clooney said she was “absolutely delighted” the journalists had been pardoned.



She said it had been a long ordeal, and Mr Fahmy’s lawyers were grateful to the president for exercising his power to pardon.
She added: “This is a historic day in Egypt where the government has finally corrected a long-standing injustice, and set two innocent men free.”
A tweet from Mr Fahmy’s account read: “Thank you to all the supporters sending us the news, we have heard and are very happy. AJ Staff is Free!”
Mr Fahmy’s brother Adel said: “I don’t know what to say. It is done. Thank God, thank God.”
The three journalists were sentenced to three years in prison last month for airing what a court described as “false news” and biased coverage.
The pardon also comes a day before the president is to travel to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
On Tuesday in Australia, Mr Greste attended the dedication of a war correspondents’ memorial at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke to him and said he would press Egypt for a pardon for him and his colleagues, according to Mr Turnbull’s Facebook page.
The case against the three embroiled their journalism in the wider conflict between Egypt and Qatar following the 2013 military ousting of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
It began in December 2013 when Egyptian security forces raided the hotel suite used by Al-Jazeera at the time to report from the country.
Authorities arrested the trio, later charging them with allegedly being part of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities have declared a terrorist organisation, and airing falsified footage intended to damage national security.
Since Mr Morsi was ousted, Egypt has cracked down heavily on his supporters and the journalists were accused of being mouthpieces for the Brotherhood.
Al-Jazeera and the journalists denied the allegations, saying they were simply reporting the news.
The three men were convicted on June 23 2014, with Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy sentenced to seven years in prison and Mr Mohammed to 10 years.
The verdict brought international condemnation and calls for the newly-elected president to intervene.
Egypt’s Court of Cassation, the country’s highest appeals court, later ordered a retrial, saying the initial proceedings were marred by violations of the journalists’ rights.
Two British journalists, Sue Turton and Dominic Kane, have previously been tried in their absence, and found guilty.

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Thats fabulous news. It must have been a nightmare to live through. Much joy for everyone involved.

I just read Amal's statement and watched the interviews she had done in Cairo and the Maldives.
And I realized that she must really have a lot of diplomatic skills. She can't go to court in these countries and tell everybody there that they are idiots. (I just watched two episodes of 'How to get away with murder' last night and that's what they do there quite a lot.) Nobody wants to lose face when he corrects a decision he or somebody else has made so Amal has to have the ability to build bridges for the decision makers.