Jail Bars
Credit: Image by Michael Coghlan on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

It is commonly accepted that the existence of a democratic society relies on an independent and thriving fourth estate, a press which is free to question governmental decisions and report on the issues that have an impact on society.

However, journalists around the world are being wrongfully accused and arrested on allegations of terrorism, and put behind bars while performing their duties in the field.

On Wednesday 21 October, Vice Media blacked out its entire network of digital channels to call for the release of detained journalist Mohammed Rasool.

The 25 year-old journalist was imprisoned along with two of his colleagues at the end of August and charged with assisting a terrorist organisation while reporting for Vice News.

His fellow journalists, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, were released in early September and sent back to the UK.

Alex Miller, global head of content at Vice, said the company hoped that blacking out all of its channels would demonstrate the importance of press freedom.

"We blacked out our channels because that represents what Vice would be in a world where journalists are arrested – there would be no light in the darkness," he added.

"If we allow governments to lock people like Rasool up, it is not just the journalists who are going to prison, it is all of civilized society."

The campaign has had a positive reaction on social media, with journalists and members of the public signing the online petition to call for Rasool's release, and sharing the #FreeRasool hashtag on social media.

"We are not giving up on our campaign until Rasool is free. The blackout was merely the start and we will be rolling out new parts of the campaign, frequently and regularly over time," Miller said.

Vice hopes public support will help put pressure on the Turkish authorities to release Rasool. 

The organisation’s latest magazine ‘The Prison Issue’ also includes a blacked out page mirroring the digital switch off, a first-person narrative of events from Jake Hanrahan and a dedicated page to the #FreeRasool petition. 

Rasool – The Prison Issue
The Prison Issue is also helping to promote the campaign. Credit: VICE

When three Al Jazeera journalists were arrested under terror charges in 2013, the public's drive to free the reporters played a huge role in not only drawing attention to the situation, but in giving the imprisoned men hope.

Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were convicted of spreading false news and collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

"We didn't really know how big the campaign was...but even the little that we did know was enormously empowering and we heard snippets of information through all sorts of channels," said Greste.

"If we ever felt alone, we just needed to conjure up an image of all those people who had been taking selfies [for social media], signing petitions or writing to us, and pretty soon the cell would have been packed with imaginary friends.

"It gave us a sense of purpose and a meaningfulness to what we were going through that otherwise wouldn't have been there."

The journalists' arrest and conviction came as a huge shock to them, as they were amazed at being sentenced to imprisonment for crimes they didn't commit.

"The lack of evidence was embarrassing," said Greste.

"At no stage since the time we had been arrested did we realistically believe that we were going to be convicted. We hadn't done anything wrong – we thought there had been some kind of mistake or they just wanted to call us in to rattle a few cages."

"To be sentenced to seven years in prison was absolutely devastating for us and we really didn't see that coming at all – perhaps it might have been a little bit naive now in retrospect, but at the time, we really thought we hadn't done anything wrong."

The case became a major controversy for the Egyptian government, and after spending over 400 days in prison, all three journalists were eventually released, with Greste freed in February 2015 and Fahmy and Mohamed freed in September 2015.

"One of the things our case did, was make people think a little bit more about press freedom and freedom of speech. I think it helped people imagine or understand what our world might look like if we do see journalists locked up just for doing their jobs," said Greste.

"Our job as the press is to monitor, to interrogate and to act as watchdogs of governments, on behalf of the people who elect these governments.

"What we have seen over the years, is the increasing use of national security to limit what journalists can and can't do. When we do that, we run the risk of actually making it easier for governments to get away with things without the press oversight – and I don't think that this is necessarily healthy."
Mohamed Fahmy, former Al Jazeera English bureau chief, has been inspired by his experience in Egypt to champion free speech and fight the suppression of the press by creating the Fahmy Foundation.

"[Our case] sends a clear message to leaders across the globe that if you continue to imprison journalists, no one is going to accept it."

The Fahmy Foundation aims to provide financial assistance and advocate for more than 200 journalists who are currently unjustly imprisoned worldwide.

"All journalists should unify behind this cause and there should be new guidelines in place to better protect journalists from prosecution," said Fahmy.

Although Greste and Mohamed continue to work for Al Jazeera, Fahmy now teaches at the university of British Columbia, where he has been able to tell students about his own experiences, and "how the war on terror in the Middle East is being used to clamp down on civil liberties in the area".

"You don't go through an experience like this without being a changed man, and that's what happened to me. I got into journalism to make a change, support causes and seek the truth, and this experience has made me even more passionate about journalism," Fahmy said.

"A society with free speech may not exist anywhere in the world, but we have got to continue to fight towards this reform – these mini victories on the way do count for something."

Listen to the podcast below to find out more about what is being done to advocate for wrongfully imprisoned journalists worldwide:

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