Amal Clooney, the wife of American Actor George Clooney will be visiting Egypt, in an attempt to secure the release of Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy who will face a retrial on February 12th. Three journalists working for Al-Jazeera English were arrested about 13 months ago on charges of spreading false news and collaboration with the enemies. This meeting will represent Clooney’s 1st in-person meeting with her client.
“Despite clear assurances that he would be released, Mr. Fahmy remains in detention in Egypt,” Clooney wrote in her letter to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi, according to CTV News. “I therefore plan to visit Cairo in the near future to meet with Mr Fahmy and to discuss the prospects for his release.”
The Lebanese born British barrister is a very high profile human right activist and lawyer. Her name came to international spotlight when she took up the defense of fugitive Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who faced extradition. She was also the defense attorney for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in what was seen by international observers as a political persecution. Her career in the international criminal justice system has taken her to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, handling cases such as the tribunal against human rights violation in former Yugoslavia and Cambodia where genocide have occurred.
Photo Credit: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
