Al-Jazeera calls on Germany to release its journalist

Al-Jazeera has demanded the immediate release of its journalist who has been detained at an airport in German capital Berlin, the Qatari channel announced late Saturday night. Ahmed Mansour, a senior Al-Jazeera Arabic TV journalist, with both Egyptian and British citizenship, was arrested at Tegel airport as he was heading to Qatar, Al Jazeera said. Mansour was indicted for allegedly torturing a lawyer in 2011 and was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by an Egyptian court in 2014. Mansour denied the allegations.

“The airport authorities detained me based on an Interpol order at the request of the Egyptian authorities,” Mansour told Al-Jazeera.

“I informed [ the police] that the global police organization has rejected Egypt’s request and that I have this document from the Interpol to prove that I am not wanted on any charge.”

A German judge is expected to issue a decision in Mansour’s case on Monday, according to Al-Jazeera.

The incident comes two weeks later after the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit to Germany.

The Egyptian government accuses Al-Jazeera of bias in favor of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group – an allegation the channel denies – amid tension with Doha over Qatar’s criticism of Morsi’s 2013 ouster and imprisonment by the army.

In December 2013, three Al-Jazeera journalists were arrested in a Cairo hotel only days after Egyptian authorities branded the Muslim Brotherhood – the group from which ousted President Mohamed Morsi hails – a “terrorist” group.

The three journalists were all slapped with jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years after being convicted of “broadcasting false news” and “threatening Egypt’s national security”.

World Bulletin / News Desk