Journalism Is Not a Crime

‘Taking pictures isn’t a crime’

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The second hearing in the trial of the 739 defendants facing charges related to the “Rabaa sit-in” in Egypt, a trial that includes the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) will be held in a few hours on Tuesday, June 28, tomorrow.

Today it was announced that the National Press Club in Washington, DC, will honor Shawkan with one of this year’s two 2016 John Aubuchon Press Freedom awards. NPC President Thomas Burr said, “Shawkan’s case exemplifies the draconian way Egyptian authorities have cracked down on the press. Egypt is one of the world’s top jailers of news professionals, and the situation there is not improving.”

Because there are so many defendants, the trial is being conducted in a special building constructed for mass trials. It is outside Tora Prison near Cairo.

For two years, Shawkan was held without knowing what the charges against him are; in March, he and his lawyers finally learned that he faces nine charges that range from “joining a criminal gang” to “murder.” From the moment he was arrested on August 14, 2013, till March of this year, he did not know that he faces execution if he is convicted. Charged with murder, Mahmoud Abu Zeid is in a fight for his life. For taking photos.

He has been in jail for almost three years now.
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The Endless Wait Continues for Shawkan

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

The trial of the 739 defendants on trial for a variety of charges related to the “Rabaa sit-in,” a case that includes the photojournalist Shawkan, got underway today in Cairo. At the conclusion of the proceedings, it was announced that the next hearing will be conducted on June 28. The day unfolded with a few moments of chaos.

When a court case involves more than 700 co-defendants, perhaps one should expect some chaos. This morning in Cairo, Egypt, the latest hearing in the trial of the Rabaa sit-in defendants, erupted into shouting and a judge who claimed that if he did not see something himself in his courtroom, it did not take place.
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Free Dawit Isaak

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“We will not have any trial and we will not free him. We know how to handle his kind.”
—Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea, speaking in 2009 about writer Dawit Isaak

The last time Amnesty International mentioned the case of the imprisoned Eritrean writer Dawit Isaak, it was in its 2011 annual report about Eritrea. Amnesty reported what it believed to be safe to report: that Isaak “remained in detention, allegedly in Eiraeiro Prison. He was reportedly in poor mental and physical health.”
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