Amal Clooney Heads to Egypt in a Bid to Free an Imprisoned Canadian Journalist—Get the Details!

He has been imprisoned for his coverage of the 2013 Egyptian protests

By Francesca Bacardi Feb 11, 2015 7:39 PMTags
Amal ClooneyREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images

Amal Clooney is traveling to Egypt to try to free an imprisoned Canadian journalist who was sentenced to seven years in prison for his coverage of the 2013 Egyptian protests.

Mohamed Fahmy, who held dual Canadian-Egyptian citizenship, was reporting for Al Jazeera when he and two others were arrested and charged with aiding terrorist organizations. Despite their sentencing in what Clooney has labeled a "show trial," one of Fahmy's colleagues reportedly was released Sunday after spending more than a year behind bars.

George Clooney's wife wrote a letter to Egyptian President Sisi inquiring about her client's "imminent" release.

"Despite clear assurances that he would be released, Mr. Fahmy remains in detention in Egypt. I therefore plan to visit Cairo in the near future to meet with Mr. Fahmy and to discuss the prospects for his release," read the letter, as reported by the National Post.

AP Photo/Christian Lutz

Although recently she has become better known as the Hollywood hunk's better half, it's clearly back to business for the high-powered human rights lawyer. In addition to this latest trip to Egypt, she also has been working full-time on defending Armenia against Doğu Perinçek, the leader of the Turkish Workers Party. A Switzerland court fined him in 2008 for denying the Armenian genocide of 1915.

Before she traveled across the globe to help free her client, the 37-year-old celebrated her birthday in a super low-key way: dinner at home!

"We just had a dinner with a small group of close friends at George's house," Rande Gerber revealed of his pal's celebration. He also dished that the Tomorrowland actor is "always doing special things" for Amal.

With such a high-stress job, we can only imagine how much she appreciates such relaxing times with her hubby!