Egypt Reaches ‘New Low’ With Death Penalty Call for Three Journalists

A recommendation from an Egyptian judge to execute three journalists, including two from the news network Al-Jazeera, has been condemned by the advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On May 7, Judge Mohammed Shirin Fahmy recommended the death penalty for six people, including Ibrahim Helal, former news director at Al-Jazeera's Arabic news channel, Al-Jazeera producer Alaa Omar Mohammed Sablan, and Asmaa Al-Khatib, a former news editor for the pro-Muslim Brotherhood news site Rassd.

"Egypt's rulers have made no secret of their hostility to independent journalism. But for a court to sentence journalists to death would represent a new low," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said on Wednesday. "We call on Egyptian prosecutors not to contest any appeals filed by the journalists' lawyers."

The three journalists were convicted in absentia for possessing Egyptian government documents. None are currently in Egypt.