Uttalande från EBU:s generalförsamling mot fängelsedomarna för journalisterna i Egypten

Tidigare i veckan gick flera mediechefer, bland andra Sveriges Radios vd Cilla Benkö och SVT:s vd Eva Hamilton, ut och fördömde domarna i Egypten mot de tre journalister från tv-bolaget al-Jazira som i måndags dömdes till sju års fängelse. Nu kommer ett uttalande från EBU:s General Assembly som också är starkt kritiskt mot domarna.

– Vi svenska vd:ar för Sveriges Radio och SVT har redan tidigare i veckan tagit tydlig ställning och uttryckt vår starka oro för hur den Egyptiska regeringen har agerat i denna fråga och vi hoppas att detta EBU-uttalade nu ökar pressen på regimen så att journalisterna omedelbart friges, säger Cilla Benkö och Eva Hamilton, vd:ar för Sveriges Radio respektive SVT.

"Declaration of the 72nd General Assembly of the EBU with regards to the conviction of journalists reporting on the serious civil unrest in Egypt.

We express our strong concern over the recent Egyptian court decision to imprison three journalists of al-Jazeera - Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed - and to convict three further foreign  journalists in absentia for allegedly ‘falsifying news’ regarding the protests in Egypt last summer.

We make use of this opportunity to recall as well that this is not the first time that the Egyptian authorities have imprisoned or detained journalists, including those working for our organisations, such as Turkish Radio Television’s (TRT) Metin Turan.

Our 74 radio and television member organisations from 56 European countries and our associate members from Asia, Africa and the Americas, call upon the court in Egypt to re-consider the verdicts, and on the government to do everything within their power to secure their immediate release, in view of the universal obligations of freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’.

Our concerns also extend to journalists being unjustly detained or imprisoned in other countries and we therefore reiterate our strong belief that journalists must be allowed to work around the entire world without fear of persecution, not just in Egypt.

We call on all media organisations and the international community to join us in making strong representations to the relevant Egyptian authorities in order to secure the release of these journalists without delay.

Reporting on serious civil unrest is not  a crime." 

För mer information, vänligen kontakta:

Eva Sahlin, presschef Sveriges Radio
eva.sahlin@sverigesradio.se  
070-684 18 52