OTTAWA – On World Press Freedom Day 2014, the Green Party of Canada wishes to bring attention to the plight of jailed Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, the winner of this year’s World Press Freedom Award.
Fahmy is a producer with Al-Jazeera’s English service, and had been working in Cairo when he was arrested in December 2013. He and two other journalists have since been imprisoned while they await trial for charges of providing a platform for the Muslim Brotherhood, a group declared illegal by the Egyptian dictatorship.
“The threats that journalists face worldwide remind us that we cannot take the freedom of our press for granted,” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich–Gulf Islands. “It is incumbent on all Canadians to speak out against censorship, partisan spin, and misinformation. In a healthy democracy, journalists need to be able to ask difficult questions, and they must have access to the information they need to hold our leaders to account.”
Canada currently ranks 20th on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, having dropped from 10th place in 2012.
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Contact:
Nicholas Gall
Communications Coordinator
Green Party of Canada
(613) 614 4916
nicholas.gall@greenparty.ca