Comedian Andy Parsons and Channel 4 chief correspondent and presenter Alex Thomson were among the people gathered at Trafalgar Square today, in support of Al Jazeera journalists facing trial in Egypt on terror charges. Sue Turton, an Al Jazeera reporter who is accused of the same charge, was also present . The crowd staged a silent protest by taping their mouths shut and releasing black balloons.
The protest was part of a global day of action, where people around the world were asked to, at midday, cover their mouths, take a photo of themselves and post it online under the hashtag #FreeAJStaff.
Twenty journalists have been charged with “fabricating news and assisting or belonging to a terror cell”. Eight are in custody, including Al Jazeera’s Peter Greste, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed. They have been imprisoned since 29 December and were last in court on 21 January, where they declared: “We are strong and we shall walk free”. The trial has been adjourned until 5 March.
Images from the protest below.
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
Alex Thomson (Image: Index on Censorship)
Andy Parsons (Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
(Image: Index on Censorship)
Sue Torton (Image: Index on Censorship)
Sue Torton (Image: Index on Censorship)
This article was posted on 21 February 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
