By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent
Mohamed Fahmy, one of three Al Jazeera journalists freed on bail after spending more than a year in an Egyptian prison, has told Sky News it would be naive to think he and his colleagues are in the clear.
Speaking from his family home in Cairo, Mr Fahmy said the 24 hours since his release had felt like a "rebirth and a fresh slate" but cautioned that the battle for freedom is not over.
He said: "I will fight this all the way. I don't trust the lawyers and I've learned not to get my hopes up or trust the system."
Mr Fahmy was released from jail on Friday along with his colleague Baher Mohamed after being told he would have to face a retrial over allegations they supported the Muslim Brotherhood.
The 40-year-old said he will be trying to schedule meetings with the Egyptian President, Foreign Minister and other officials in the coming days to try to guarantee his release.
He said the Egyptian authorities had not given him his passports or any identity documents, which was making it difficult for him to return to normality as he cannot rent an apartment, drive.
His time in prison has also prevented him marrying his fiancée Marwa Omara, who has been waiting more than a year.
Mr Fahmy also has to register every day at his local police station as a condition of his bail - for which his family paid $33,000 (£21,000) - and has a travel ban imposed on him.
"We are still living in this nightmare. It's still there," he said.
Mohamed Fahmy and his colleagues Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste were arrested on 29 December 2013 and sentenced to between seven and 10 years in prison on terror charges.
An appeals court later overturned the verdict, ordering the retrial and granting Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed bail.
Australian correspondent Mr Greste left the country almost two weeks earlier after a presidential decree allowed for the deportation of foreign convicts and defendants.
The next session of the trial is scheduled for the 23 February.
Mr Fahmy described life in a maximum security prison as "hell", especially his first month which was spent in solitary confinement in a tiny, insect-infested cell.
He said there was no light and he could not tell what time it was.
His two colleagues were then moved to another part of the prison where they were put together in a cell they described as a "shoe box".
The same prison was home to some of the most senior and high-profile members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the group's Supreme Guide.
To entertain themselves and learn more about their fellow inmates, Mr Fahmy, Mr Greste and Mr Mohamed decided to start a mock station they named 'Al Jazeera Radio Prison' and began interviewing Brotherhood and jihadi inmates through the bars of their cells.
Mr Fahmy said the show gave them something to do and also provided some much-needed relief.
"It's important to have humour in prison to be able to survive," he said, smiling.
But prison authorities found out about the show and told them to shut it down.
The three men spent months in a cell together during their trial before being moved on to yet another wing after they were sentenced.
That is when other inmates joined them in a larger cell he describes as being like a "warehouse."
Mr Fahmy said spending more than 400 days in an Egyptian prison had made him think a lot about his life and his priorities.
"Before, it was about getting exclusive stories and being on the front lines. Now I think more about my family and what really matters," he said.
Mr Fahmy admitted his employer, Al Jazeera, which is owned by Qatar, could have done more to better protect its staff on the ground.
He said senior managers displayed a "negligence of responsibility" when it came to their safety and security.
He also thought the Canadian government could have and still should exert much more pressure on the Egyptian authorities.
Mr Fahmy had dual Canadian-Egyptian citizenship but gave up his Egyptian nationality a few months ago after security officials told him to, indicating they would deport him - a move the journalist said was a trick which he now deeply regrets falling for.
But Mr Fahmy was clear about who was to blame for what happened to him and his colleagues.
"The Egyptians put me in prison, the Qataris contributed to my detention by mishandling issues with Al Jazeera's presence in Egypt and the Canadians had a very clear opening to get me out of this debacle," he said.
It was clear, he added, that he and his colleagues were used as pawns within a larger spat between Egypt and Qatar.
He said: "This case is about freedom of speech only in the sense that you have silenced three award-winning journalists, recognised for their work, and putting them behind bars for not committing any crimes.
"However the other aspect of the case is the ongoing cold war between Egypt and Qatar that resulted in us being used as pawns to score settle these issues between these two countries."
In fact, he said, the prosecutor told him explicitly on various occasions while questioning him that he was being used as a pawn, although a record of their conversations has not been made public.
The TV journalist hopes to reveal much more about in a book he is planning to co-write with colleague Peter Greste, called Marriott Cell , the name they were given by the authorities after being arrested from the Marriott hotel in Cairo where they were working at the time.
Mr Fahmy said his lawyer, Amal Clooney, has expressed interest in writing the introduction to the book and he is already working on it.
For now though, Mohamed Fahmy is enjoying being free.
"It's just nice to walk around and not be followed by a cop," he said.
"You never really appreciate the simple things, but I do now."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Al Jazeera Trio Used As Pawns, Says Journalist
Dengan url
http://malurasanya.blogspot.com/2015/02/al-jazeera-trio-used-as-pawns-says.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Al Jazeera Trio Used As Pawns, Says Journalist
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Al Jazeera Trio Used As Pawns, Says Journalist
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar