Al-Jazeera Journalist Arrested in Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — An Al-Jazeera journalist already appealing one jail sentence was arrested again Monday while filming a documentary, allegedly without a proper license, her lawyer and police said.

Egyptian Howaida Taha, 44, a documentary producer for the pan-Arab TV news channel, was filming in a low-income neighborhood in Cairo when police detained her in the morning. Police later questioned her long into the evening, her lawyer Ahmed Helmi told The Associated Press.

Helmi, who was with Taha during the interrogation, said it was not clear whether his client would remain in custody overnight.

“She is under a constant police watch, they want to ban her from working in Egypt,” Helmi said. He added that Taha had all the needed permissions issued from the Egyptian press center.

A police official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed the arrest and said four other people also were detained, including three crew members and an Egyptian human rights activist. All remained in custody.

Taha, who is known for her criticism of the Egyptian regime, was first detained last January for two days for possessing 50 video tapes that police alleged contained fabricated scenes of torture by Egyptian police. At the time, Taha said the footage was a “reconstruction” for her documentary on police torture in Egypt.

She was sentenced in May to six months in jail after a Cairo state security court found her guilty of “harming the country’s interests” by “fabricating” the torture scenes.

At the time of her sentencing, Taha was in Doha, Qatar, where Al-Jazeera has its headquarters. She later returned to Egypt to appeal the verdict, and a decision on her appeal is expected Feb. 11, her lawyer said.

The torture documentary, “Beyond the Sun,” was aired on Al-Jazeera in April, as Taha had kept copies of the confiscated tapes.

Rights groups say torture, including sexual abuse, is routinely conducted in Egyptian police stations. The government denies systematic torture but has investigated several officers on allegations of abuse. Some were convicted and sentenced to prison.

The documentary Taha was working on when she was detained Monday, “In the Shadow,” deals with people living on the edge of society.

– By Nadia Abou El-Magd

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