[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3521-3522]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           PRESS FREEDOM DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Johnson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention 
to the continued imprisonment of journalists in Egypt, and to 
restrictions on press freedoms worldwide.
  Al Jazeera, the news network, has called today, Thursday, February 
27, Press Freedom Day. Reporters in more than 30 cities around the 
world, including in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, are holding 
vigils to remember all the journalists currently at risk from 
governments that restrict the most valuable of international rights: 
the right to a free press and to freedom of speech.
  The military-led government of Egypt has engaged in wholesale 
repression of the media, especially outlets thought to be sympathetic 
to the Muslim Brotherhood, since overthrowing President Mohamed Morsi 
in June 2013.

                              {time}  1030

  This repression culminated with the arrest of three Al Jazeera 
employees on December 29, 2013. On that day, Egyptian authorities 
arrested three employees of Al Jazeera and accused them of ``spreading 
lies harmful to State security and joining a terrorist group.''
  Another 20 journalists were prosecuted this year for ``airing false 
news,'' among other apparently meritless charges.
  Today, four Al Jazeera reporters are currently being detained in 
Egypt in the Tora Prison compound for their reporting from Egypt. They 
are charged with being members of the organizations on which they were 
reporting, a charge that Al Jazeera and other international media 
organizations and press protection groups have rejected.
  Peter Greste, Al Jazeera English's Nairobi-based correspondent; 
Mohammed Fahmy, their senior producer in Egypt; and Baher Mohamed, 
their producer in Egypt, are all being held in one small cell in Egypt 
at that prison under difficult and, to put it gently, Spartan 
conditions.
  They are allowed out of their cell for only 1 hour a day, and they 
have been detained since December 29. They had been separated, but I 
would thank the Egyptian authorities for at least bringing them 
together, so they can at least lean on each other for support.
  Abdullah al-Shami, the Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent, has been held 
since August of 2013 and has been on a hunger strike, protesting his 
detention since January. Their families in Australia, Canada, and Egypt 
are working tirelessly for their freedom.
  I can empathize with the fear and concern their families face each 
day, worrying about the physical and mental health of their loved ones.
  Locking up reporters has never stopped the world from finding out 
what is going on in a country, particularly in this modern world.
  Egypt is a proud nation with a proud history and has been a longtime 
ally of the United States of America. The

[[Page 3522]]

Egyptian people, regardless of which government, party, or individuals 
they support, have made it clear: their choice is one of democracy and 
freedom.
  For those goals to be achieved, freedom of the press and freedom of 
speech must be respected and promoted. I encourage the Egyptian 
Government and the Egyptian judiciary to immediately release these four 
journalists, as well as all other journalists currently detained, and 
to allow all members of the news media to operate in an unrestricted 
environment that is free from harassment, censorship, and arbitrary 
arrest and detention.
  As White House spokesman Jay Carney has said:

       The restrictions on freedom of expression in Egypt are a 
     concern, and that includes the targeting of Egyptian and 
     foreign journalists and academics simply for expressing their 
     views.

  Earlier this month, I sent a letter signed by 15 Members of the 
Congress, urging the Secretary of State to take immediate action to 
help secure the release of these journalists in Egypt; and as Egypt 
struggles to find its identity, it is important for the international 
community to remind the Egyptian leadership--and all world leaders--of 
the need for a free press.
  The imprisonment and prosecution of journalists sends a clear and 
ongoing message of harassment and intimidation to all journalists in 
Egypt. Free those journalists. A free society requires a free press.

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