Amal Clooney, right, called the conviction of the Al Jareeza journalists “an outrage.” Courtesy of The BBC
Summary: Amal Clooney is in the news this week for two big cases—the pardon of two Al Jareeza journalists and her work with former Maldive president Mohamed Nasheed. Yet, despite her professional accomplishments, she still faces sexism at work and in the media.
Amal Clooney’s having a good week….but sexism is continuing to tear her down.
The renowned human rights lawyer, Columbia Law School visiting professor, and yes, wife of a movie star scored a big win on Wednesday. Her clients, Al Jareeza journalists, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were issued a pardon by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt. They had been sentenced last month in Cairo to three years in prison on terrorist charges.
According to the BBC, President al-Sisi ordered the release of 100 prisoners, including Mohammed and Baher. Prosecutors had accused them along with another journalist of helping the outlawed extremists, Muslim Brotherhood; but the two denied the charge, stating they were only reporting news.
“This is a historic day in Egypt where the government has finally corrected a longstanding injustice, and set two innocent men free,” Amal said.
This is not the only high profile case for Amal that is making news this week. She is representing former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, who is is currently detained on terrorism charges. Human rights groups state that the arrest was politically charged and that he is being mistreated.
According to the Independent, she and her team are working pro bono, and they have until December 14 to appeal the Maldivian High Court’s judgment.
Before these two cases, Amal had an impressive resume. She has degrees from Oxford and New York University, and she represented Julian Assange of Wikileaks and the former Prime Minister of Ukraine.
Yet, despite her accomplishments, she still battles misogyny, like many women do in the workplace. Recently, one of Amal’s colleagues, Justice Minister Edward Faulks dismissed her merits and told The Daily Mail that she gets cases because of her marriage to Hollywood actor, George Clooney.
“I’m sure she gets such high-profile cases and everyone wants her because she’s married to George Clooney; and by employing her they’ll give publicity to their case,” Edward said.
In addition to being accused of riding her husband’s famous coattails, Amal’s fashion choices are often included in write-ups about her work, and this week, The New York Post wrote an examination of her “bad” style. With the headline, “Amal Clooney’s style is all over the place—in a bad way (see below),” writer Alev Aktar proceeded to rip apart her fashion choices, from her designer outfits while teaching at Columbia Law School to her ripped jeans which Alev said were “jarring.”
While it is hard not to be fascinated by Amal’s beauty, style, and glamour, it is equally difficult to ignore that articles written about powerful men do not usually include the cost of their outfits nor the designer. The good thing about Amal is that she appears to not let negative comments at work or in the media get her down.