Since the removal of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi there have been over 40 cases of detainment where journalists and media members are put in jail without facing any formal charges. Most of these detainments are related to media members that are sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood or former president Morsi. However, in the case of Canadian filmmaker John Greyson I feel it highlights how this unfair treatment can have affects on anyone. On August 16, 2013 Greyson was on his way to Gaza to film a movie but he could not reach Gaza because Egypt had closed its border. While in Egypt he documented police cracking down on a Muslim Brotherhood demonstration. Egyptian authorities found the video on Greyson’s camera and a spokesman for the Egyptian military said that he would be charged with “participating in an illegal demonstration.” Greyson faced horrible conditions in jail where he shared a cell with 40 other people. He was also searched, interrogated, beaten, shaved bald and refused phone calls while in jail.
Finally with help from the Canadian government and international authorities Greyson was released from jail. During the protest to get Greyson out of imprisonment the Canadian government and several other organizations wrote a letter of support for Greyson that was signed by 311 cultural and academic figures from around the world. Also an online petition was signed by nearly 150,000 people. On October 5th the Canadian government announced that Greyson had been released, however the Egyptian military said he could not leave the country while under investigation. On October 10th Greyson was finally able to get on a plane and leave Egypt. I feel that this one example shows how unfair journalists are treated in that country. In this case it was a foreign filmmaker who just got stuck in the country and happened to film the wrong thing, but this same type of harsh and unfair treatment happens everyday to journalists in that country. I think the main point to highlight from this example is that Greyson was held in jail without ever being formally charged, but due to help from his government he was able to be freed. Egyptian journalists are not afforded this same luxury and when they are detained without formally receiving charges their stay in jail can be indefinite.
Posted by Tyler Ainge
Source: http://cpj.org/blog/2013/10/john-greyson-detention-exposes-egypts-arbitrary-po.php#more