George Clooney’s new wife Amal risked arrest in Egypt last year when she agreed to represent an Al Jazeera journalist, who is currently behind bars in Cairo.
The human rights lawyer was recently in the Middle East tackling Egypt’s judiciary system while representing her client and was told she would be watched closely and if she slipped up, she’d be arrested.
Amal Clooney tells The Guardian, “When I went to launch the report, first of all they stopped us from doing it in Cairo. They said, ‘Does the report criticize the army, the judiciary, or the government?’ We said, ‘Well, yes’. They said, ‘Well then, you’re risking arrest’.”
In the report, Amal suggested that Egyptian officials should not be allowed to hand-select judges for specific cases.
She says, “That recommendation wasn’t followed, and we’ve seen the results of that in this particular case, where you had a handpicked panel led by a judge who is known for dispensing brutal verdicts. And this one was no different.
“Unfortunately we have to conclude that we can’t rely on these Egyptian court processes to achieve a fair or swift result.”
