The Canadian Press reported that two Canadian activists returned home on Saturday after seven weeks in an Egyptian prison. On arrival, John Greyson and Tarek Loubani admitted many mistakes but expressing delight at being home again. They also gave thanks to those who helped win their freedom.
Tarek Loubani is an emergency-room physician from London, Ontario. John Greyson is an outspoken gay film professor and director living in Toronto. Greyson said, quote, “We call out the collusion of Western powers, seemingly unwilling to denounce military violence against peaceful citizens, and perhaps, most crucially, on the ongoing role of billions in U.S. military aid (that is) helping return Egypt to a nightmare of military dictatorship.”
The two said they had only planned to stop overnight in Cairo on their way to Gaza.
They believed they could safely document the violence that erupted in Cairo and tend to the wounded without invoking the wrath of the authorities. Instead, they were swept up in mass arrests and imprisoned in cramped conditions without trial. They said they were beaten and forced to sleep on the concrete with cockroaches.
The two were accused of participating in illegal protests and resisting arrest. This week state agents dropped the accusations against them and gave them permission to leave Egypt. Family and supporters mounted a relentless campaign to have them freed, to which Greyson said, quote, “Your hard work mattered, your voice mattered, it made a difference, we owe you our freedom.”
h/t http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/12/canadian-activists-imprisoned-in-egypt-return-to-canada-its-really-obvious-we-made-mistakes/
