Open Letter to Canadian Ambassador David Drake – Stand by Mohamed Fahmy!

To the
Ambassador of Canada to Egypt
David Drake
26 Kamel El Shenawy Street
Garden City, Cairo

by mail:  cairo@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
cc:         @pmharper, @J_MacDonald_PC


Incarceration of Canadian journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy

Dear Sir,

in case you missed this article, I bring it to your attention.

Canadian journalist held in notorious Egypt jail in crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood

It is appalling to see that the Canadian embassy is apparently doing next to nothing to assist Mr. Fahmy in the incredibly dire situation he finds himself in, rotting in an Egyptian jail with a serious shoulder injury, no medical attention and having to sleep on the cold concrete floor.

As a journalist colleague I know Mr. Fahmy well and know that the charges against him are absolutely ridiculous and nothing but a politicised attempt of the Egyptian government to smear and defame.

It would be hard to believe that your government and you as an embassy in Egypt would not also be aware of this.

So much more it is distressing to hear that you do not engagingly assist him while under this criminal attack and do not even care to attend the hearings he has to endure injured and medically unattended.

I seriously urge the Canadian embassy to fulfill its responsibilities towards a Canadian citizen and take effective action to ensure that Mr. Fahmy finally is getting the medical treatment he urgently needs, is allowed a sleeping bag or blanket and a pillow so not as to have to sleep on the cold cement floor, and is accompanied in the hearings so he is adequately represented in the sham interrogations that are conducted by the Egyptian prosecutor's office. All this would be a natural one should think, and it is worrying to hear that apparently the Canadian embassy – and with it the Canadian government – is not undertaking everything possible to make the unbearable situation Mr. Fahmy is in at least a little more bearable and foremost a short endured experience.

Everyone who knows Mr. Fahmy knows that he is innocent of the absurd charges put against him. If the Canadian government should not know this and be in doubt, it should ask those who know him well and can vouch for them. As things seem however, the Canadian embassy just lets it run and ignores the plight its own citizen and highly respected journalist is in. Given the horror that he has to endure now for almost two weeks, your falling silence in all aspects would be inexcusable and a serious failure to the duties the Canadian tax payers have put in your hands.

I trust you will be able to help shorten Mr. Fahmy's unjust incarceration by taking up the necessary actions and thank you for in future standing by him in person with embassy staff during the interrogations he unjustly has to go through.

Everything else would be shaming Canada worldwide.

Sincerely
Jonathan Moremi