Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt

[dingdingdang]

"Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy were sentenced to seven years in jail by a judge and Baher Mohamed was sentenced to 10 years. Three other journalists who were tried in absentia were handed 10-year sentences."

All for supposedly 'spreading false news'...

[1egyptian]

Egyptian here. Puzzles me how such a piece gets all the attention, while hundreds of other Egyptians sentenced to death, and other thousands killed in peaceful protests do not get nearly as much coverage.. Oh, an Australian

[tsarzen]

This is a big story because the death sentence sends a message to the world that foreign journalists risk their life just for reporting the news in Egypt. It suggests that Egypt is heading towards a closed, non-democratic future and could pose a significant risk to other countries.

This piece is from an Aussie news site, so obviously it will highlight that the journo was Australian. But the bigger story is that - despite the revolution - Egypt is still a long way from being open and free.

Also as an aside, it also sends a big message to the business world: "Don't invest in Egypt - it's not safe for foreigners."

Egypt is a beautiful country with great people. I hope they can overcome this.

[arethuza]

FWIW the death sentences passed on 183 people in Egypt did get a lot of coverage and condemnation here in the UK. I wouldn't read too much into stuff being picked up here on HN - it is pretty random.

[harry8]

A foreign journalist working for a news organisation with a pretty good reputation. Generally that's news wherever it happens in the world. I haven't been following what has happened in Egypt. I now know it has become a place where foreign journalists working for Al-Jazeera are sentenced to prison when those in power don't like the reported stories. I'm sure there's a lot more nuance than that and it's a view through a straw at the country but it's not a good sign for Egypt. From spring straight to winter?

[pstop]

Egyptians putting Egyptians on trial has almost nothing to do with the rest of the world. It's Egyptians doing it to themselves, and really isn't our concern anymore than it is your concern for how we sentence drug crime here. Besides, An African or Middle Eastern country doing something stupid is so common place, it's simply not news anymore.

Regardless, it would be bigger news if a western country jailed an Egyptian for telling false news. Reporters are still sacred for a while longer in the west, and to imprison a reporter goes beyond a chilling effect.

[antimagic]

I don't get it - would you prefer that Australia doesn't report on the Egyptian government suppressing free speech?

As to why this story rises to the top in the international press, it's because it's a bit meta - when you have free press in your country, other countries can leave the reporting of internal affairs to the local media. The loss of this internal check and balance is an important event on an international scale, whereas, quite frankly, the sentencing of death to Egyptians by their courts isn't.

[eaurouge]

Actually, since the Arab Spring, the United States media (at least) has devoted a disproportionate amount of attention on events in Egypt. While the covered topics are newsworthy and, in my opinion should be covered, most global events and countries don't receive the same level of attention.

[davidw]

Actually, this article should not really even be here as it's about politics/current events:

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[icebraining]

For what it's worth, The Daily Show has been covering Egypt fairly regularly, including having Gihan Ibrahim as a guest earlier this month.

[chris_wot]

Perhaps that's because those overseas journalists who report these things have been put in jail for 7 years. Oh. Overseas free press.

[amrrs]

Politics in Hacker News? http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[pstop]

This isn't politics, it's world events. It's also of interest to the HN community. Seriously, stop making these comments.

[Killah911]

This isn't exactly politics is it? It certainly is about geopolitical event, but not quite one party vs another.