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John Greyson, Tarek Loubani say thanks in new video from Egypt

John Greyson, Tarek Loubani say thanks in new video from Egypt. (Screengrab/YouTube)

Two recently released Canadians who spent almost two months in an Egyptian prison after getting caught up clashes after the military coup overthrew its elected Islamist government have posted a video to thank those who helped get them out.

Filmaker John Greyson of Toronto and Dr. Tarek Loubani, a London, Ont., ER physician, were freed from custody abruptly Sunday after seven weeks in a crowded cell without charge, but were barred from leaving the country until the prosecutor's office had wrapped up its investigation involving an estimated 600 people.

"We're very touched and overwhelmed," Greyson said in the one-minute ad-libbed thank-you video. "We're just getting the sense now of the incredible support that was there that came together from every corner Canadians people around the world, people here in Egypt to make this day possible."

[ Related: Charges could still come against Canadians held in Egypt ]

Loubani, who like Greyson looked gaunt but healthy and happy, thanked supporters in English and Arabic.

“Hi to all of our friends, hi to all of our families, hello to all of the wonderful people who have worked so hard to make this day possible for us,” he said.

Loubani was on his way to Gaza to work in a hospital and Greyson was along to document his work when they were arrested Aug. 16 during a stopover in Cairo.

Loubani had been aiding supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government who were injured in clashes with police and soldiers while Greyson recorded events. They were arrested when they asked police for directions to their hotel.

The pair claimed they were beaten and abused while in custody and began a hunger strike to protest their detention without charges.

Their incarceration triggered an outcry in Canada and a diplomatic full-court press from the normally standoffish Conservative government, including the intervention of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird himself.

Greyson and Loubani didn't thank anyone specifically in their video and acknowledged they're not out of trouble yet.

"Were stuck a bit," said Greyson. "The ordeal's not over. But for now we thought we'd say hi."

They also expressed their solidarity with their fellow prisoners and their families.

Not everyone in Canada was sympathetic to the pair's plight.

Right-wing commentator Ezra Levant spent 15 minutes on Sun News Network ranting Greyson and Loubani were overexposed media darlings whose support for Gaza's Hamas government and bitter opposition to Israel has been papered over.

[ Related: Egypt casts doubt on Canadians' quick exit but sister says home in days ]

Loubani was arrested after a confrontation with a Conservative cabinet minister, Levant said, and Greyson was arrested by Israeli authorities when he participated in a flotilla that tried to break the Israeli navy's blockade of Gaza.

"Loubani and Greyson are serial, professional protesters who engage in anti-Israel protest tourism," Levant said.

The two were used to kid-glove treatment from police, "so it was a shock when, after their arrest in Cairo, Egyptian authorities treated them like rioters, as opposed to preening media celebrities," Levant sneered.

He noted Egyptian police seized two small remote-control helicopters that he suggested could be used as drones. He pooh-poohed their claim the little choppers would be used to move medical samples around.

Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente echoed Levant's doubts about their motives for going to Gaza.

"John Greyson and Tarek Loubani have been portrayed as innocents abroad, humanitarian do-gooders who were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time," she wrote Tuesday.

"This picture is inaccurate and incomplete. The two are hard-core anti-Israel activists who’ve been mixed up in Middle East politics for years. They should have known what they were getting into."

[ Related: John Greyson, Tarek Loubani unable to leave Egypt ]

Wente contended Greyson and Loubani knowingly stepped into a volatile situation in Cairo, then exploited their arrest for publicity.

"That doesn’t mean they deserved to be in jail, or that the government shouldn’t have intervened on their behalf," she wrote.

"Its job is to advocate for any citizen who is denied due process by a foreign government – no matter how foolish, reckless or disagreeable that citizen may be. ...

"These two should kiss Mr. Baird’s feet. But I wouldn’t hold my breath."

Wente and Levant in turn were excoriated in a post on rabble.ca. Christopher Majka accused them of yellow journalism, twisting their account of the incident they witnessed in Cairo's Ramses Square to make it look like they supported the Muslim Brotherhood.

"As their statement of September 28 makes clear, while stuck in Cairo they were observing peaceful protests in Ramses Square when violence began and wounded people began appearing," he wrote.

"Loubani, an emergency physician, began administering aid to the stricken and Greyson began documenting the events unfolding around them. Between them they witnessed the deaths of over 50 Egyptians, of all ages and walks of life, all of them unarmed.

"Later, en route back to their hotel and unable to find a way through a police cordon, they stopped to ask for assistance at a checkpoint, at which point they were arrested and their 51-day detention began."