The Marriott Cell
An Epic Journey from Cairo's Scorpion Prison to Freedom
Will be published approx. on 15. November 2016
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-0-345-81635-1 (ISBN)
Description
Award-winning journalist Mohamed Fahmy's widely anticipated account of his wrongful incarceration in Cairo's maximum-security Scorpion Prison for terrorists and political leaders, and his subsequent battle for justice, opens a remarkable window onto the closed world of Islamic fundamentalism and the bloody geopolitical struggles that dominate our headlines. An important book that reads like a political thriller, it is also a testament to the critical importance of journalism today; an inspiring love story that made front-page news; and a profoundly personal drama of one man's fight for freedom.
On the night of December 29, 2013, Egyptian security forces, in a dramatic raid on the Marriott Hotel, seized Fahmy (Canadian-Egyptian Bureau Chief for Al Jazeera English) and two of his colleagues, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed, accusing them of fabricating news as members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Their trials became a global cause célèbre condemned as a travesty. But Fahmy also never stopped being a journalist: inside Scorpion he found himself cheek by jowl with notorious Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Al Qaeda fighters, and ISIS sympathizers. Always intrepid, he took advantage of the situation to "interview" the Brotherhood about their aims, gaining exclusive insight into the geopolitical feuds between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE on one hand and Qatar and its allies, including Turkey on the other-interviews that led him to sue his former employer, Al Jazeera, from prison. The complex power brokering of Middle Eastern and Western governments left three men trapped in a web he describes as "Global McCarthyism." But at the heart of the book is an inspiring story of two strong women: Fahmy's wife, Marwa Omara, who used every means possible to fight for his release, bravely risking her safety; and his courageous international human-rights lawyer, Amal Clooney, who championed his battle for freedom.
On the night of December 29, 2013, Egyptian security forces, in a dramatic raid on the Marriott Hotel, seized Fahmy (Canadian-Egyptian Bureau Chief for Al Jazeera English) and two of his colleagues, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed, accusing them of fabricating news as members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Their trials became a global cause célèbre condemned as a travesty. But Fahmy also never stopped being a journalist: inside Scorpion he found himself cheek by jowl with notorious Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Al Qaeda fighters, and ISIS sympathizers. Always intrepid, he took advantage of the situation to "interview" the Brotherhood about their aims, gaining exclusive insight into the geopolitical feuds between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE on one hand and Qatar and its allies, including Turkey on the other-interviews that led him to sue his former employer, Al Jazeera, from prison. The complex power brokering of Middle Eastern and Western governments left three men trapped in a web he describes as "Global McCarthyism." But at the heart of the book is an inspiring story of two strong women: Fahmy's wife, Marwa Omara, who used every means possible to fight for his release, bravely risking her safety; and his courageous international human-rights lawyer, Amal Clooney, who championed his battle for freedom.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Mississauga
Canada
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
8 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
658 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-345-81635-1 (9780345816351)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Mohamed Fahmy | Carol Shaben
The Marriott Cell
An Epic Journey from Cairo's Scorpion Prison to Freedom
E-Book
11/2016
Random House Canada
€25.49
Available for download
Persons
MOHAMED FAHMY, a dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen lives in Vancouver and works as an adjunct professor at UBC. He has reported on the Middle East and North Africa for CNN, the LA Times, and BBC. In 2011 he and his CNN associates were honored with a Peabody Award for the network's coverage of the Arab Spring; he also co-authored the photo documentary Egyptian Freedom Story. In 2012 he won The Tom Renner Investigative Reporting Award for producing the CNN Freedom Project documentary series Death in the Desert, which exposed the trafficking of Sub-Sahara Africans to Israel through Sinai-Egypt. He was appointed Al Jazeera English Bureau Chief in 2013. He is the recipient of the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom Award from UNESCO. He and his wife, Marwa Omara, founded the Fahmy Foundation NGO in 2015, dedicated to providing financial assistance and advocating on behalf of imprisoned journalists and photographers around the world.
CAROL SHABEN is an award-winning author and journalist. She is the author of Into the Abyss, winner of the Edna Stabler National Award for Creative Nonfiction and finalist for the BC Book Prize Herbert Evans Non-Fiction Award, and the co-author of The Marriott Cell, longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year, a national bestseller, and recipient of the Ontario Historical Society Huguenot Award. She is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards. She was a longtime Faculty Editor at the Banff Centre's journalism program and has taught at the University of British Columbia's School of Creative Writing.
CAROL SHABEN is an award-winning author and journalist. She is the author of Into the Abyss, winner of the Edna Stabler National Award for Creative Nonfiction and finalist for the BC Book Prize Herbert Evans Non-Fiction Award, and the co-author of The Marriott Cell, longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize, a Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year, a national bestseller, and recipient of the Ontario Historical Society Huguenot Award. She is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards. She was a longtime Faculty Editor at the Banff Centre's journalism program and has taught at the University of British Columbia's School of Creative Writing.