Amal Clooney Risks Arrest After Criticizing Egyptian Judicial System

Amal Clooney risks arrest after criticizing the Egyptian judicial system for the conviction of three Al Jazeera journalists, Clooney admitted in an interview on Friday.

Clooney co-wrote a report for the International Bar Association in February 2014 that discussed flaws in Egyptian courts.

The human rights attorney now represents one of the three journalists, Mohamed Fahmy. The same flaws she wrote about in the report apply to her client, and officials told Amal Clooney that she risks arrest for criticizing the judiciary and government.

The report claims the Egypt’s judicial system isn’t as independent as it could be. Specifically, officials in the ministry of justice have a lot of power over independent judges. Officials also can control state prosecutors.

Clooney and the other authors of the report suggested Egypt end the practice of letting Egyptian officials pick judges for certain cases involving politics.

In reference to the recommendation, Clooney said, “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. And this one was no different.”

The three Al Jazeera journalists in the case were originally sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail last June. This case was presided by Egyptian judge Mohammed Nagy Shehata.

Clooney criticized Shehata as a judge for unprofessional behavior and poor judicial decisions. For example, in one case he sentenced 188 people to death for an attack on a police station. Clooney described it as “one mass trial which didn’t distinguish between each defendant’s criminal responsibility.”

Shehata is also known for not replying to requests for interviews.

The new judge presiding over Clooney’s appeal didn’t overturn Shehata’s decision, but he did grant a new trial after acknowledging problems with the initial process and sentencing.

Clooney still fears the new trial will have a flawed process. The original process included presenting a Goyte song, footage of a trotting horse, and pictures of one of the journalist’s parents to show how it proved all three were guilty.

She explained, “If the idea is: well, there were errors and now there’s going to be a retrial, but then a retrial operates on the same basis as the original one, that doesn’t really mean much.”

Clooney’s client Fahmy and the journalist Peter Greste have requested to be sent to their home countries, Canada and Australia respectively, for the new trial. Clooney believes Egypt’s judicial system is so flawed that deportation is the only way the journalists will see a fair trial.

Baher Mohamed, however, only holds an Egyptian passport. His retrial will have to take place in Egypt.

Though Amal Clooney risks arrest for criticizing the Egyptian judicial system, she stands by her beliefs and hopes her client can receive a fair trial in Canada.

[Photo Credit: Hot Gossip Italia]

Amal Clooney Risks Arrest After Criticizing Egyptian Judicial System