Brussels, 27/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 24 July, the presidents of the ALDE and PES parties, Sir Graham Watson of the United Kingdom and the Bulgarian Sergei Stanishev respectively, called for the Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, currently being held in Egypt, to be freed.
With their verdict to be handed down on Thursday 30 July, the two journalists face ten years in prison on charges of terrorism and of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. Their Australian colleague Peter Greste was released in February (see EUROPE 11244).
“I urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed and I expect that journalists in Egypt are guaranteed the freedom to exercise their rights in accordance with the Constitution of Egypt to ensure an accountable democracy”, Sir Graham stressed in a press release. Expressing concerns that the trial targets the freedom of expression, he went on to stress that the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, should closely follow the situation on behalf of the EU.
Stanishev called on the Egyptian government to ensure that the two men are afforded a “fair trial and all of the rights which the Egyptian Constitution guarantees them”, reiterating that “journalism is not a crime, and should not be punishable with a prison sentence”. The PES president added that their charges of terrorism and belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood are causes of grave concern. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)