Egyptian-British Ahmed Mansour, from the Al-Jazeera channel’s Arabic service, says Germany has joined hands with Cairo’s SiSi regime …reports Asian Lite.
Egyptian-British journalist Ahmed Mansour on Al-Jazeera’s broadcast service detained in Berlin on an Egyptian arrest warrant has accused Germany of acting as a tool of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime. Mansour is being held for a second night after he was arrested at the capital’s airport as he tried to board a flight to Doha.
Mansour was earlier sentenced in absentia in Egypt in 2014 to 15 years in prison over allegedly torturing an unnamed lawyer in Tahrir Square during the uprising in 2011, a charge that has been rejcetd by the Mansour and the channel.
Al-Jazeera said at the time the charge was false and an attempt to silence Mr Mansour, known to viewers across the Arab world. The 52-year-old journalist was ordered to remain in custody pending a court decision on whether to release or extradite him. The reason for Germany’s decision to pursue Mr Mansour remains unclear. His lawyer expressed surprise that he had been detained at all as Interpol had not officially asked for the arrest, says The Telegraph.
. In a video aired by the Doha-based pan-Arab satellite channel, Mr Mansour said he had been told by police that his arrest was “based on a German order, and not due to an Interpol order.” “The question now is how have the German government and Interpol become tools in the hands of a bloodthirsty regime in Egypt that came to power through a coup, and is led by the terrorist Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,” he said. His lawyer Fazli Altin called for the journalist’s immediate release, saying that Germany was getting involved in a politically tainted case.
Reporters Without Borders, the press freedom watchdog, said Mr Mansour’s arrest is the result of “Egypt’s terrible revenge against journalists that cross the regime,” adding if Germany did extradite him “it will be putting itself at service of a dictatorial regime and will dishonour itself.”
Egypt has mounted a crackdown on dissidents of all political stripes since Mr Sisi’s regime came to power in a military coup. Although it has targeted journalists from across the political spectrum, particular ire has been reserved for the Al-Jazeera network, which is owned by arch-rival Qatar.