The lawyer for a Canadian journalist facing long-decried terror charges in Egypt is accusing the federal government of being the only impediment to a new passport being issued for the man.
Mohamed Fahmy, who spent more than a year in a Cairo prison and has been working to get a passport ever since his release on bail in February, claims the lack of official documentation has placed him in a precarious situation.
He has trouble proving his identity at police checkpoints, is unable to carry out basic banking, and can’t get married to the fiancee who has stood by him through his ordeal. He also has no official identification document to provide to officials at his next court appearance later this month.
Fahmy’s Vancouver-based lawyer, Gary Caroline, claims there is nothing in Canadian law that should prevent Fahmy from being issued a new passport, nor is there any indication Egypt’s courts don’t want the 40-year-old to have one.
“The only impediment is Canada,” Caroline told The Canadian Press.
