Amal Clooney risked arrest during a trip to Egypt.
The human rights lawyer – who wed Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney in Venice last September – has revealed she was told she may face arrest for criticising the country’s government while defending one of three Al-Jazeera journalists who were jailed in the country.
Writing in a report for the International Bar Association, the 36-year-old activist had said the nation’s judiciary should be more independent of the Egyptian government, but was advised she risked arrest if she published the recommendations.
She said: "When I went to launch the report, first of all they stopped us from doing it in Cairo.
"They said, ‘Does the report criticise the army, the judiciary, or the government?’ We said, ‘Well, yes’. They said, ‘Well then, you’re risking arrest’."
The journalists – Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed – were sentenced to prison for between seven and 10 years following a trial last June, but after the country’s court announced the men would face a retrial earlier this week, the barrister has criticised the courts once again, saying the results were likely to be no different because officials are able to choose which judges sentence the men.
She explained: "We’ve seen the results of that in this particular case, where you had a hand-picked panel led by a judge who is known for dispensing brutal verdicts.
"And this one is no different."
Amal Clooney risked arrest in Egypt
