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Amal Clooney says she risked arrest during a recent trip to Egypt.
The human rights lawyer — who wed Hollywood actor George Clooney last September — has revealed she was told she may face arrest for criticizing Egypt’s government while defending one of three Al-Jazeera journalists jailed in the country.
[fwdevp preset_id=”8″ video_path=”sqtyskXeuwY”]Mrs Clooney, who represents one of the trio, said: “When I went to launch the report, first of all they stopped us from doing it in Cairo…
“They said: ‘Does the report criticise the army, the judiciary, or the government?’ We said: ‘Well, yes.’ They said: ‘Well then, you’re risking arrest’.”
The report, compiled on behalf of the International Bar Association, said Egypt’s judicial system was not as independent as it could be.
Among its recommendations were that the practice which allows Egyptian officials to handpick judges for certain politicised cases be ended.
“That recommendation wasn’t followed, and we’ve seen the results of that in this particular case where you had a handpicked panel led by a judge who is known for dispensing brutal verdicts,” said Mrs Clooney, the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney.
The three journalists – Peter Greste, Baher Mohamed, and Mohamed Fahmy, whom Mrs Clooney represents – were initially sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail last June by the controversial Egyptian judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata.
They are accused of spreading lies to help a “terrorist organisation” – a reference to Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood – which they deny.
At the trio’s appeal on New Year’s Day, a new judge refused to throw out the case but agreed to a retrial after recognising problems with the initial process.
Agencies/Canadajournal
