Canadian Journalist Mohamed Fahmy has spoken out about his experience in a jail cell while being wrongfully detained in Egypt saying he felt “betrayed and abandoned” by Stephen Harper.
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Fahmy has launched the Fahmy Foundation to advocate for press freedom and the release of imprisoned journalists.
“Sitting in that prison cell, it was hard not to feel betrayed and abandoned by Prime Minister Harper”, he said.
His arrival ends a near two-year ordeal that raised questions about Egypt’s commitment to free speech and whether Canada’s Conservative government did enough to help him.
Fahmy, 41, was the Cairo bureau chief for Al-Jazeera English when he was arrested in Egypt in 2013 with two colleagues. The trial was criticized by human rights groups as deeply flawed.
“When you’re there [in prison], your only hope is that your prime minister will get you out”, Fahmy said. “I still have, as far as I know, a conviction hanging over my head and a criminal record as a convicted terrorist”, Greste told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio.
Fahmy said if that happened, he was “thankful” but he said Harper should have been “more transparent” about making such a call. Fahmy said he made sure to come back to Canada amid the campaign because he feels it his responsibility to start a debate on the issue. He said he would have more to say about it at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. He stopped first in London, where he was to meet with his high-profile lawyer Amal Clooney.
Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy plans to attend a news conference hosted by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression today at Ryerson University in Toronto.
They will live in Vancouver, where Fahmy has lined up a job as an adjunct professor at the UBC graduate school of journalism.
Fahmy and Mohamed were released from prison on September 23 after being granted a pardon by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Fahmy met with Liberal leader Justin Trudeau late Monday and has plans to meet with New Democrat leader Tom Mulcair but said he has no plans to endorse a candidate.
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He also lashed out at Harper for his attempt to ban women from wearing the Muslim face-veil during citizenship ceremonies, which has proven pivotal in the election race.
