Friday, November 1, 2013

Canadians Held 50 Days in Egyptian Prison After Documenting Massacre Speak Out Following Release

Democracy Now!
A MUST WATCH!
"As Egypt sets a date for ousted President Mohamed Morsi to stand trial for inciting the murder of protesters, and the Muslim Brotherhood calls for mass demonstrations, we speak with two people who witnessed one of the bloodiest massacres of Morsi supporters by Egyptian state forces. Acclaimed Toronto filmmaker John Greyson, and emergency room medical doctor Tarek Loubani were in Cairo on August 16, en route to a humanitarian mission in Gaza when they went to film a protest and then rushed to the scene of a massacre — Greyson reportedly began filming the shooting’s aftermath while Loubani treated some of the injured. Then, along with 600 Egyptians that day, the pair of Canadians were swept up and detained without charge. They were held in cockroach-infested jail cells with as many as 36 other inmates. Greyson and Loubani launched a hunger strike while supporters in Canada mounted a massive campaign to lobby for their release. Then, early October, the pair were freed. They have since returned home to Canada where they continued to call for the release of their Egyptian cellmates who remain imprisoned. We go now to Toronto where we are joined by Greyson, who is also a member of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. And, in Ontario, we’re joined by Tarek Loubani, an assistant professor at Western University. He is a Palestinian refugee and one of the architects of the Canada-Gaza academic collaboration, a project that brings doctors from the West to Gaza to train physicians...."

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