Update on John and Tarek: No decision, no release

September 5, 11pm

Tarek and John had another visit from consulars and from our lawyers yesterday. We have heard more about how they are doing, which continues to be summarized as “good health and high spirits”, although they have now been in for about three weeks, entirely at the prosecutor’s discretion, and our own frustration and that of friends and supporters continues to grow.


September 5, 11pm

Tarek and John had another visit from consulars and from our lawyers yesterday. We have heard more about how they are doing, which continues to be summarized as “good health and high spirits”, although they have now been in for about three weeks, entirely at the prosecutor’s discretion, and our own frustration and that of friends and supporters continues to grow.

Thanks to the many artists in the film community who love and respect John’s work, a #FreeTarekandJohn button is a new hot item at the Toronto International Film Festival. There will be a press conference with some incredible filmmakers on Tarek and John on Tuesday Sept 10 – it’s a media-only event, but it will be posted on tarekandjohn.com as soon as the video is available.

Tarek and John are scheduled to appear before the prosecutor again on September 11, which will be day 26 of their detention. At that point, the prosecutor will again be able to decide to continue their detention and meet with them 15 days later (September 26), or release them that day, or afterward, or indeed, before.

We continue to call for their immediate release, and ask supporters to continue calling the Egyptian Embassy in Ottawa, the Egyptian Consulate in Montreal, and for our friends in other countries (the US, UK, and elsewhere) to call the Egyptian embassies and consulates in their own countries to press for the immediate release of John and Tarek.

Author: Justin Podur

Author of Siegebreakers. Ecology. Environmental Science. Political Science. Anti-imperialism. Political fiction. Teach at York U's FES. Author. Writer at ZNet, TeleSUR, AlterNet, Ricochet, and the Independent Media Institute.