Al-Jazeera crew, Australian reporter detained in Egypt

Al-Jazeera crew, Australian reporter
detained in Egypt
on december 31, 2013 at 6:02 pm in news
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian authorities Tuesday
ordered an award-winning Australian journalist and
two other reporters working for Al-Jazeera
television detained for two weeks on suspicion of
“disturbing public security,” a judicial source said.
They were arrested on Sunday amid a widening
crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted
president Mohamed Morsi, which the military-
installed government declared a “terrorist” group
last week.
Al-Jazeera has identified them as Cairo bureau
chief Mohamed Adel Fahmy — a dual Egyptian-
Canadian citizen — Australian reporter Peter Greste
and producer Baher Mohamed.
Cameraman Mohamed Fawzi, who was also
arrested on Sunday, has since been released.
Prosecutors accused the crew of “working in
violation of the law, filming sovereign institutions,
and airing videos aimed at disturbing peace and
public security,” the source said.
The detention can be extended, and they can be
referred to trial if charges are brought against them.
The team was also accused of having maps of
Egyptian military installations on their laptops and of
working for the channel despite its licence being
cancelled by the authorities, the sources added.
The four were arrested at their makeshift office in a
Cairo hotel.
Greste, a former BBC journalist, won the prestigious
Peabody award in 2011 for a documentary on
Somalia.
Qatar, which hosts and funds Al-Jazeera, was a big
supporter of Morsi before his overthrow by the
army in July last year.
To the fury of the military-installed interim
government, it has been an outspoken critic ever
since.
On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera expressed outrage at the
crew’s detention.
“It is outrageous to be treating bone fide journalists
in this way,” said Al-Jazeera English managing
director Al Anstey.
“The allegations that are being made are totally
false and unfounded. We operate in Egypt legally.”
The team had been working on stories showing the
situation in Egypt, he said, adding that each member
of the team “has huge experience carrying out the
highest quality journalism with integrity”.
Other Al-Jazeera reporters remain in detention,
including Abdullah Elshamy of the Arabic language
station arrested on August 14 when police
dispersed an Islamist protest camp in Cairo, killing
hundreds in clashes.
The government declared the Brotherhood a
“terrorist organisation” last week after a suicide car
bombing of a police headquarters killed 15 people.
It blamed the attack on the Brotherhood which the
movement condemned, while an Al-Qaeda-inspired
group claimed responsibility for it.
On Monday, media watchdog the Committee to
Protect Journalists said Egypt came third for the
number of journalists killed on the job in 2013, after
Syria and Iraq.
“Amid stark political polarisation and related street
violence, things deteriorated dramatically for
journalists in Egypt, where six journalists were
killed for their work in 2013,” the CPJ said.
Three were killed on August 14 as they were
reporting on the police crackdown on Morsi’s
supporters in Cairo.
The CPJ said that since 1992 it has documented the
deaths of 10 journalists for their work in Egypt —
nine of them since the uprising against Hosni
Mubarak erupted in 2011.