Mohamed Fahmy, a former Al-Jazeera journalist who was released from prison in Egypt last month, has returned home to Canada.
Advertisement
FAHMY who was released from prison in Egypt last month told The Associated Press he arrived in Toronto quietly with his wife on Sunday.
“Sitting in that prison cell, it was hard not to feel betrayed and abandoned by Prime Minister Harper”, Fahmy said.
While Fahmy acknowledged that many government officials were in Egypt working to free him, he believes Harper could have done more.
He repeated his criticism of the Harper government for not doing enough to secure his freedom after he was arrested in 2013 with two colleagues on terror-related charges, saying that the Canadian government didn’t understand the urgency of his case.
The case was widely condemned.
Fahmy said the junior ministers and the ambassadors on the ground in Egypt were “diligent”, but he said they didn’t have the authority to plead directly with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The other colleague, Australian Peter Greste, was previously released. “I probably survived because of your support outside”, he said. “I felt humbled and safe seeing the kind and heartfelt vibes from the police officers and security at the airport who were extremely hospitable and recognized my face despite my attempts to keep my arrival quiet”. Greste and Fahmy were sentenced to 7 years jail time, while Mohamed was sentenced to 10 years, on charges of operating without a press license and broadcasting material harmful to Egypt. 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.
At his earlier news conference, Fahmy did say that members of the Conservative government had been unwilling to talk to him or his lawyers during his long ordeal.
“I’ve called on the Egyptian government today to differentiate between terrorists and reporters who are fighting these terrorists with their pens and cameras”, he said.
Fahmy also plans to meet with NDP Tom Mulcair but said he has no plans to endorse a candidate in the federal election.
Fahmy left Cairo last week after learning his name had been removed from a no-fly list.
Advertisement
Fahmy accepted a teaching position from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, but it’s not clear when he will begin that new job. He is also writing a book about his experiences.
