Broadcaster issues 'notification of dispute' with Cairo's interim authority as four journalists remain in custody

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Al-Jazeera Media Network has served Egypt with a $150m (£89m) compensation claim on the grounds that its investments in the country have been damaged since July 2013.

On Monday, the network lodged a formal "notification of dispute" with the country's interim government.

It is based on a 1999 bilateral investment treaty between Egypt and Qatar, which stipulates the mutual promotion and protection of investments.

If there is no settlement between al-Jazeera and the Egyptian authorities within six months, al-Jazeera said it would send the case to international arbitration.

In the months following the overthrow of the government of President Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian military, al-Jazeera's journalists and staff have been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation.

The interim government's actions have included the ransacking and closure of al-Jazeera offices, confiscation of equipment, jamming of the network's transmissions and the arbitrary detention of journalists.

Its broadcast licence has been revoked and its Cairo branch was subjected to compulsory liquidation of assets.

Four al-Jazeera journalists remain in custody, and six have been tried in absentia.

According to the bilateral investment treaty signed between Doha and Cairo, investors from both sides should be afforded fair and equitable treatment by the governments of both countries.

As the treaty obliges Egypt to provide al-Jazeera's investments with full protection and security, the broadcaster considers the Egyptian authorities to be in violation of international law.

Al-Jazeera claims to have invested "substantial sums" in Egypt since it began broadcasting there in 2001, and its lawyers, Carter Ruck, say the effect of the sustained campaign against the network amounts to an expropriation of that investment.

An al-Jazeera spokesman said the company could not permit the situation to continue. "Egypt has severely disrupted al-Jazeera's business activities," he said, and accused the military regime of breaching "its obligation to respect the right of journalists to report freely."

Sources: Al-Jazeera/Carter Ruck