Skip to content

Mohamed Fahmy joins panel discussion in Kelowna

UBC hosts presentation and discussion on freedom of the press
10788352_web1_180228-PWN-PressFreedom201822622413999
UBC Okanagan is presenting a panel discussion on press freedom and justice.

By Brennan Phillips

Special to the Penticton Western News

UBC Okanagan is again delving into current issues with a discussion on press freedom and justice in the age of terror on March 5

The discussion features Mohamed Fahmy, an award winning Egyptian-born Canadian journalist. Fahmy will speak on his experiences as prisoner in Egypt, where he spent two years locked away alongside hardened extremists.

His ordeal led to an international alliance to secure his release, and the lengthy legal struggle made headlines around the world.

Fahmy covered the Iraq War in 2003 for the Los Angeles Times, and later covered other events in the Middle East like the Arab Spring for CNN. In Sept. 2013, he took on a post as Al Jazeera English Bureau Chief in Egypt and four months later he was arrested and jailed for 438 days on false terrorism charges.

Along with Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr and moderator Sarah Penton of CBC Radio, Fahmy will be part of a panel discussion, sharing his experiences and talking about the growing threat to a free press and how social media is reshaping reality.

The discussion and panel will be held in the ballroom of the University Centre of the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna, starting at 4:30 p.m.

Co-presented by UBC’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, this event is free and open to the public. Pay parking is in effect.

Free registration at: fahmy.eventbrite.ca