Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy has announced that a lawsuit he has filed against Al Jazeera Media Network has been dropped, demanding millions of Canadian dollars in damages.

Mohamed Fahmy was one of three journalists from the English channel Al-Jazeera, who were arrested by the Egyptian authorities in December 2013 on false charges and politically motivated. They were convicted and sentenced to effective prison after a mock trial in which the Egyptian government sought to pressure Al-Jazeera.

After his release, Fahmy filed a lawsuit asking the island to pay more than 100 million Canadian dollars (75 million US dollars) in financial compensation. He announced his lawsuit against the network at a press conference in May 2015, while the Egyptian authorities were reviewing his case.

Muhammad Fahmy continued to attack Al-Jazeera and the State of Qatar, whether in Canadian institutions or on public platforms, and announced his alliance with the Egyptian regime and the countries that support it, such as the Emirates.

In 2017, evidence surfaced that Fahmy was receiving funding from the United Arab Emirates.

Although he initially denied having any connection with the Emiratis, or that he received any funding from any source, he was eventually forced to admit that he had at least received $ 250,000 from the UAE ambassador to Washington in exchange for the Al Jazeera prosecution fees.

Criticize and question
Since that time, the case he submitted has been criticized and skeptical in Canadian circles, and described as part of an ongoing Emirati campaign against Al-Jazeera, and Mohammed Fahmy has been seen in some circles as a tool used to play a role in this campaign.

My understanding - as many expected - did not abandon the litigation procedures in Canada after its links with the Emirates were revealed, however, as soon as formal procedures began to be investigated and interrogated by the network's lawyer regarding the lawsuit and the claims he recorded in the minutes of the case, he chose to abandon the lawsuit and drop his claims completely before conducting the interrogation .

Fahmy agreed to commit to not pursuing the island or its employees anywhere in the world with any other legal procedures, and not to claim any payments from any type of network or on its behalf.

The island and the defense of journalists
It is noteworthy that Al Jazeera Media Network continues to file a lawsuit against the Egyptian government in relation to Egypt's abuse of the network and its employees, including the arrest, trial and conviction of some of its journalists. Hearings are still pending in this case.

Commenting on the issue, a network spokesperson said that "Al Jazeera is committed to covering events boldly and professionally without favoritism or bias, and will always defend the journalists working for it, and all journalists and media workers around the world, and will strive to enable them to work freely and without fear of arbitrary arrest, assault or pursuit. Judicial or other forms of harassment and intimidation. "

"Al-Jazeera stood by Fahmy and his colleagues after their arrest, throughout their trial and imprisonment in Egypt, and was shocked by Fahmy's endeavor - after his release - to hold the network responsible for the repressive and illegal actions that the Egyptian authorities have taken against him. It is now clear that he did so in cooperation with Anti-press freedom system. "

He added, "Al-Jazeera believes that Muhammad Fahmy abandoned his lawsuit against her, instead of responding to our lawyers' questions and interrogating him about the details of the allegation, as evidence that he was seeking to hide more details."