Reporter released from Egypt prison wants citizenship back

Cairo drew criticism over Mohamed Fahmy’s 2013 arrest for allegedly reporting ‘false news’ on Muslim Brotherhood

By Rob Gillies 29 December 2015, 1:08 am

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In this Thursday, June 4, 2015 file photo, Canadian Al-Jazeera English journalist Mohamed Fahmy, left, and his Egyptian colleague Baher Mohammed listen in a courtroom in Tora prison in Cairo, Egypt. (AP/Amr Nabil)

TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian journalist who spent much of the last two years jailed in Egypt says he has requested Egyptian authorities restore the citizenship he renounced in order to win his release.

Mohamed Fahmy, a former Al-Jazeera journalist who was released in September after receiving a pardon from Egypt’s president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, was a dual citizen but renounced his Egyptian citizenship late last year.

Fahmy was arrested in 2013 with two Al-Jazeera English colleagues.

In a case widely condemned by rights groups, he was sentenced to three years in prison in a retrial this year for airing what a court described as “false news” and coverage biased in favor of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Fahmy lives in Canada but owns property in Egypt and says reclaiming citizenship is a matter of principle.