Al Jazeera Journalist Sues Employer for Negligence Over Imprisonment

An Al Jazeera television journalist on trial in Egypt for allegedly aiding a terrorist organization is suing the news network for $100 million in compensation, his lawyer said Monday.

Mohamed Fahmy filed a lawsuit in a Canadian court claiming Al Jazeera’s negligent actions contributed to his 400-day detention in a Cairo jail on false charges, Reuters reports.

Fahmy was originally sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison on charges that included spreading lies to help the Muslim Brotherhood, a “terrorist organization,” along with fellow Al Jazeera journalists Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste. Earlier this year, Fahmy and Mohamed were released on bail after a retrial was announced.

The lawsuit seeks to declare Al Jazeera negligent in its conduct toward Fahmy and said the network should pay $100 million in punitive and remedial damages for its role in Fahmy’s conviction and imprisonment.

Fahmy was one of thousands put in jail after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled the Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013.

[Reuters]