Global Day of Action called in support of journalists detained in Egypt

#FreeAJStaff  (image credit: aljazeera)

Thirty cities across the world will today host events in support of detained Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt, which the media organisation hopes will pressure the Egyptian authorities to hasten the release of Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Abdullah El Shamy.

Public events will be held in Nairobi, Sydney, Manila, Islamabad, Doha, Amman, Ankara, Berlin, London, Rio, Montreal, Washington DC and San Francisco.

“We truly appreciate the solidarity from everybody right around the world," says Dr. Mostefa Souag, general director of Al Jazeera Media Network. "The pressure, support and calls for our colleagues to be released have continued to keep the story in the news. The Global Day of Action is about the freedom of the press; it is about objective reporting and ensuring journalists cannot be gagged or silenced. We ask everyone to contribute to the Global Day of Action on Thursday. Journalism is not a crime.”

It said the hashtag #FreeAJStaff has gone viral across the world, recording about 250 million impressions on Twitter alone as at February 1.

“The campaign has already had an outpouring of popular and political support worldwide, with institutions including the White House, European Union and the United Nations calling for the release of the journalists and for press freedoms to be upheld,” it said.

Al Jazeera English's Mohamed, Fahmy and Greste have been detained since 29 December 2013. Al Jazeera Arabic’s El Shamy has been detained without charge since 14 August 2013 and has been on hunger strike in protest since 23 January 2014.