Canadian Lawyer

28 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m Client: Mohamed Fahmy Lawyers: Gary Caroline and Joanna Gislason Country of detention: Egypt G ary Caroline and Joanna Gislason are partners at Vancouver-based Caroline + Gislason Lawyers LLP, and practise union-side labour law and human rights. In November, 2014, the pair was asked by a journalist friend to provide advice to someone imprisoned abroad. A few days later, they received a phone call from Mohamed Fahmy, speaking from a guarded hospital room in Cairo, Egypt. Fahmy, the Cairo bureau chief for Al Jazeera's English network and a dual Egyptian-Canadian citizen, had been arrested in December 2013 with two colleagues while reporting on the Arab Spring. He was serving a seven-year sentence on terrorism charges — principally, belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Egyptian government considered a terrorist organization. Fahmy initially retained the Vancouver lawyers to file a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court against Al Jazeera, his for- mer employer, seeking $100 million in damages. (They are no longer representing Fahmy in the civil action.) "We became more and more involved in trying to work out a strategy for dealing with his conviction and upcoming appeal," says Caroline. "We worked to change the percep- tion of Mohamed. His fundamental problem was that he was viewed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Jazeera was seen as an arm of Qatar, a state which sup- ported the Brotherhood." Working with a well-connected Cairo lawyer, they tried to convince "the powers that be" — the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi — that Fahmy was neither a supporter nor a member of the Brotherhood. Fahmy did a series of interviews with the Egyptian media to influence local opinion-makers. "At one point, I even appeared on an Egyptian TV talk show with him," says Car- oline. "Gradually, the media blitz softened the official view." Caroline travelled to Cairo for the appeal hearing, and found it an "eye-opening experience" to see how Egyptian lawyers had to shout over each other — and over a two- metre-high wall — to get the judges' attention. "Prisoners were kept in a Plexiglas, sound-proof booth in the court- room and couldn't even hear their own lawyers." The appeal proved unsuccessful. On Aug. 29, 2015, Fahmy and his two colleagues were sentenced to three years in prison for broadcasting what the court described as "false news." Throughout this period, the Vancouver lawyers worked with a public relations firm in London to build support for Fahmy at the UN and in Europe. High-profile international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney "did great work in keeping the issue alive, primarily in Europe and the Gulf states," says Caroline. "But I wouldn't say that it was a tightly organized collaboration." On a volunteer basis, Caroline and Gislason organized a Canada-wide campaign for Fahmy. They courted the media and NGOs that defend freedom of expression. They mobilized 300 prominent Canadians to issue an open letter in support of Fahmy in September 2015. They enlisted the help of former prime minister Brian Mulroney. All these efforts were intended to press Ottawa to become more active in seeking Fahmy's release. Caroline and Gislason had earlier established a channel with the For- eign Affairs Ministry, dealing mainly with consular officials. But they were underwhelmed by the diplomats' mindset. "They took the attitude that they wouldn't get their hands dirty figuring out ways in which President el-Sisi could save face in releasing Fahmy." As for the political echelon, Caroline doesn't believe that then-prime minister Stephen Harper intervened in any meaningful way to try to secure Fahmy's release. "The gov- ernment saw no advantage in arguing on behalf of a dual citizen who was a Muslim," he says dismissively. But on Sept. 23, 2015, Fahmy and 100 other prisoners received a presidential pardon on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a holiday when pardons are traditionally granted. "El-Sisi appar- ently concluded," says Caroline, "that incarcerating Fahmy was causing him more trouble than it was worth." Gary Caroline is a partner at Vancouver-based Caroline + Gislason Lawyers LLP. Mohamed Fahmy (in sunglasses) gets ready to speak in Cairo on Feb. 12, 2015, before a judge in court. ASMAA WAGUIH/REUTERS

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