Amal Clooney calls on Egypt to release journalist Mohamed Fahmy

Amal Clooney has called on the Egyptian government to release her client Mohamed Fahmy on medical grounds, after she disclosed that the jailed al-Jazeera journalist is suffering from Hepatitis C.

In a statement released through her London-based chambers, the prominent rights lawyer said Fahmy was imprisoned on spurious grounds, and needed urgent treatment for both Hepatitis C and a shoulder injury that has been exacerbated by his time in jail.

“Mr Fahmy’s trial was fundamentally unfair and his imprisonment a travesty of justice,” Clooney said in a text co-authored with Mark Wassouf, another barrister at Doughty Street chambers. “Egypt’s Supreme Court should overturn his conviction and release him when it hears his appeal. And in the meantime the authorities should grant him temporary release so that he can receive the medical treatment that he so urgently needs.”

Fahmy has been jailed since last December along with two al-Jazeera colleagues, the Australian ex-BBC correspondent Peter Greste and local producer Baher Mohamed. In June the three were convicted of aiding terrorists, doctoring footage, and conspiring against Egypt’s national security, charges observers said were clearly politicised. The trio worked for al-Jazeera English, whose affiliation with the Qatari-owned al-Jazeera Arabic network – a network whose clear antipathy for the current Egyptian government severely riled the authorities in Cairo – was the most prominent factor in their arrest and conviction.

Fahmy has enlisted Clooney as his international counsel after becoming dissatisfied with the quality of legal support offered by al-Jazeera. In Egypt itself, he is also represented by his own lawyer, Negad el-Boraie.

Al-Jazeera has separately been accused of taking measures that worsen the trio’s plight, such as threatening to sue the Egyptian government in the weeks before the trio’s verdict was due, an unhelpful move to which Clooney seemed to allude in her comments. “Al-Jazeera English – Mr Fahmy’s employer when he was arrested – should take positive steps to assist him in his bid for freedom and refrain from taking any action that might undermine his cause,” Clooney said.

Clooney has previously worked in Egypt as a researcher for the International Bar Association Human Rights Initiative (IBAHRI), compiling a report on flaws in Egypt’s judicial system.