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Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy’s family says he has been all but abandoned by the Canadian government as he heads for a retrial on terrorism charges in Egypt Thursday.

Mr. Fahmy’s brother says the muted response from Canadian officials, from Prime Minister Stephen Harper on down, has been “shameful.”

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“As of this moment the Canadian officials are not even responding to us,” Sherif Fahmy wrote in an email to the National Post.

“Lesson learned!” he said. “If you are a Canadian abroad and get into trouble, you are on your own.”

The Egyptian-born Al Jazeera journalist, who has spent more than 400 days behind bars in Cairo’s notorious Tora prison, was widely expected to be free by now after then-Foreign Minister John Baird visited Egypt last week and hinted at his “imminent” release.

That hope was shattered, however, when Egyptian prosecutors announced the case would go forward against Mr. Fahmy and fellow Al Jazeera producer Baher Mohamed.