Journalist Mohamed Fahmy details 'grim' imprisonment in new memoir

Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy describes his solitary confinement cell at Cairo's notorious maximum security prison in one word: disgusting.

"There were insects. There was no bed. It was freezing cold. I had a broken shoulder. There were no windows so I didn't know what time of day it was. It was really, really grim in every sense of the word," he told host Rick Cluff on CBC's The Early Edition.

Fahmy and his colleagues Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste from Al-Jazeera's English network were charged by Egyptian authorities in Dec. 2013 for allegedly joining or assisting a terrorist group and spreading false news.

In 2014 Fahmy was sentenced to seven years in maximum security prison. In 2015, he was released on bail and a judge ordered a retrial. During the retrial Fahmy was sentenced to three years in prison.

Finally in Sept. 2015 Fahmy was given a presidential pardon by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and was able to leave Egypt and return to Canada.

438-day imprisonment

In all Fahmy spent more than a year in prison — rubbing shoulders with some of the most notorious members of Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Undeterred he started a mock radio show interviewing other prisoners.

"I learned a lot. I learned why they do what they do and why they wage jihad against the west. They believe that we are the terrorists and they totally think that and live by that cause," he explained.

Much of what he learned is detailed in his new book, The Marriott Cell. The book also describes the dedicated campaign waged to get Fahmy out of prison.

"I survived that because luckily enough I had a good family behind me. The journalism community did an impeccable job in keeping my story alive ... Many tens of thousands of Canadians signed petitions so I realized it was not just about me. It was a bigger cause."

Press freedom advocate

In the time since his release Fahmy has advocated for greater press freedom.

It's an especially pertinent cause with the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president, he said. But he adds there are worrying trends in Canada as well.

He pointed to a recent example where a Montreal journalist was tracked by the police.

"This is a global epidemic and Canada is considered as the icon of democracy all over the world. If we are doing some of that stuff to journalists here, it's a real big problem."

Fahmy speaks Monday about The Marriott Cell at 7:30 p.m. PT at the Frederic Wood Theatre at the University of British Columbia, as part of the Vancouver Writers Fest.

With files from The Early Edition

To listen to the interview, click on the link labelled Mohamed Fahmy on The Marriott Cell