Wednesday marks the 200th day that Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been imprisoned in Egypt.
The journalists were arrested in Egypt on December 29th for allegedly airing false news and working with ousted president Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. After an unprecedented trial, the men were sentenced to at least seven years in jail-- a verdict that shocked the world and sparked international condemnation.
World leaders, news organizations and human rights groups including the United Nations, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the White House and Al Jazeera itself have come together to speak out against the detention of the journalists. Amnesty International called the ruling a "dark day for media freedom." The #FreeAJStaff campaign has attracted tens of thousands of supporters in more than 30 countries worldwide and has helped raise global awareness about the increasing threats to press freedom in Egypt.
Journalists united on the 200th day to continue their fight:
A fourth Al Jazeera journalist, Mohamed Badr, was arrested in July on charges involving the protests in Cairo's Ramses Square but was acquitted in February. Abdullah al-Shami, a journalist with Al Jazeera Arabic who was detained in Egypt and on hunger strike for more than four months, was also released in June.
Al Jazeera has not slowed down its battle for the freedom of its other three journalists, urging supporters to "keep our voice loud."
The Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) announced that it will send a petition to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Wednesday to demand the release of the journalists. Sherif Fahmy, brother of Mohamed Fahmy, also created a petition looking for 50,000 signatures to pressure the Canadian government to help bring the journalists home.
"Mohamed and his colleagues did nothing more than report on the Cairo protests, and now they’re trapped," Sherif wrote. "With a loud enough call we can get real action to help free my brother."
He has continued to keep his brother's voice alive using his Twitter account:
Peter Greste spoke out from prison in June through a Facebook post, calling the trial an attempt to "intimidate" journalists and asking the world not to lose hope.
"We must all remain committed to fight this gross injustice for as long as necessary," he wrote.