The journalists have now spent 100 days behind bars in Egypt, a period of time that has been as damaging to Egypt’s international reputation as it has been traumatic for the men themselves.
People the world over have been appalled at Egypt’s crass abuse of its justice system. Around the globe, media workers and everyday citizens alike have taken up the call to #FreeAJStaff.
Twitter and Facebook users in Australia are changing their profile pictures in support of Al Jazeera staff and joining a ‘silent protest’. They are announcing to their followers that they will ‘go silent’ on social media for an hour or so, to symbolise Egypt’s attempt to silence dissent.
They will ask their followers to sign the petition to free the Al Jazeera staff, and we will deliver this petition to the Egyptian consulate in Sydney tomorrow afternoon, ahead of the trial.
Of course, the charges against the Al Jazeera staff are ludicrous, but that is Egypt’s point: it is proving it will go to great extremes to silence journalists in the course of their daily work, and will stop at nothing to squash real - and perceived - political opponents.
The consistent denial of bail on charges clearly designed to curtail the freedom of the press is not a new tactic for the Egyptian authorities.
For decades under the Mubarak regime, under President Morsi and now under the current government, authorities have cracked down on free speech and protest.
The current wave of repression is explicitly targeting political opponents, namely supporters of The Muslim Brotherhood.
On Monday the courts sentenced Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, both activists with the 6 April Youth Movement, and well-known blogger Ahmed Douma, to serve three years in prison with labour and a 50,000 Egyptian pound (AUD$7,725) fine.
This is the first time Egyptians have been jailed for participating in an ‘unauthorised protest’ under the new repressive protest law passed last November.
In a further crackdown on political opponents, last month a court in Minya, Upper Egypt sentenced 528 people to death in one foul swoop.
Certainly the charges of killing a police officer and attempting to murder two more are serious - but this crime deserves a full investigation and a fair trial if justice is to be done.
Instead, all 545 accused men were judged together, after a 30 minute trial where defence counsel was under armed guard.
Two days later the death sentence was referred to Egypt’s Grand Mufti for his advice. The Grand Mufti’s advice is not legally binding and the court will likely finalise the death sentence on 28 April.
Egypt has tried to paint the Egyptian people’s and international community’s decrying of this crackdown on dissent as support for the Muslim Brotherhood. It isn’t.
International organisations, including Amnesty International, criticised Egyptian repression under Mubarak, under Morsi and under the current administration.
We condemned the military trials of civilians in 2011 and campaigned for the release of bloggers and activists like Maikel Nabil Sanad, a young man who spent months on hunger strike after an unfair military trial.
We have highlighted the many brutal acts that the Brotherhood themselves have carried out. One NGO recorded 88 cases of torture during the first 100 days of former President Morsi’s rule.
Under Morsi there was no reform of the security forces and the People’s Assembly never went through with the proposed harsher penalties for torture. Security forces continued to use excessive force and torture with abandon.
These failures of previous governments to address the impunity of the security forces only foreshadow the problems of the next Presidency if the current authorities fail to act.
Interim President Aldy Mansour needs to answer his growing movement of critics, drop the false charges against al Jazeera staff, and deliver on the calls for freedom that have shook the region since 2011.
About the author: Michael Hayworth is the crisis campaigner at Amnesty International Australia, focusing on human rights in flashpoints around the world.
