Egypt’s president said he won’t intervene in judicial rulings, distancing himself from the prison sentences handed down to three Al-Jazeera journalists that have touched off international outrage.
“We will not interfere in judicial verdicts because the Egyptian judiciary is independent,” President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in a televised address at the Military Academy in Cairo.
“We should respect judicial verdicts and refrain from commenting on them, even if others didn’t understand them.”
El-Sisi, who led the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last year, also appealed for “real sacrifices” to revive Egypt’s moribund economy, growing at its slowest pace in two decades since the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. He said he would give up half his salary and half of what he owns as a first step.
El-Sisi’s comments appeared to indicate he would not get involved in the Al-Jazeera reporters’ case, which may quash hopes of a pardon if probable appeals by the defendants fail.
Seven-year prison terms were handed down yesterday against Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who were accused of terror-related offenses and sullying Egypt’s image. The sentences were denounced by human rights groups and governments abroad, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who had spoken with El-Sisi about the case a day earlier during a stop in Egypt, decrying them as “chilling and draconian.”
Politicization Alleged
The three were among 20 people detained in December amid a widening crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood organization that fielded Mursi for office. International rights groups have described the charges as politicized and argued that no evidence was submitted against the defendants, who were reporting the battle between the then-military backed government and Mursi’s backers. They also characterized the trial as part of the falling-out between Egypt and Qatar, which had supported the Brotherhood and owns the satellite channel.
The sentencing came at a difficult time for the country, which has been relying on aid from Gulf Arab benefactors to keep the economy afloat following Mursi’s ouster in July. El-Sisi made note of the aid while declaring the country “can’t continue like this” and that Egyptians were “embarrassing” themselves and others by relying on handouts.
He said he refused to ratify the budget proposal submitted by the government, arguing it would have caused the public debt to balloon to two trillion Egyptian pounds ($279.7 billion.) He also vowed not to cave in to wage demands such as those made by labor groups and workers over the past three years. Near-daily strikes after Mubarak’s ouster stymied hopes for reviving the economy at the time.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net; Salma El Wardany in Cairo at selwardany@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net Amy Teibel, Jack Fairweather
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