Journalists Sentenced in Egypt
Standard analysis
The sentencing of the Australian reporter Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian acting bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed on 23 June, after a five-month trial described as a "sham" by rights groups, caused an international outcry.
The journalists were arrested on 29 December and accused of aiding the Islamic Brotherhood by providing it with a media platform and equipment. The Egyptians were also accused of belonging to the Brotherhood, the group the government declared a terrorist organisation. Greste and Fahmy each received seven-year sentences, while Mohammed got 10 years. Three other foreign journalists were sentenced to 10 years in absentia.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, called the sentences "chilling and draconian", and urged Egyptian authorities to address international concerns. A day after the sentences and following an outpouring of international condemnation, Sisi appeared to resist the pressure, saying in televised comments he would not interfere in court rulings.
The GCP event was set for 6 hours beginning about the time of the verdict and sentencing at 12 noon UTC (I was unable to get the precise time). The result is Chisquare 21912 on 21600 df for p = 0.067 and Z = 1.497.
Standard Caveat: It is important to keep in mind that we have only a tiny statistical effect, so that it is always hard to distinguish signal from noise. This means that every “success” might be largely driven by chance, and every “null” might include a real signal overwhelmed by noise. In the long run, a real effect can be identified only by patiently accumulating replications of similar analyses.
