Egypt court begins retrial of Al-Jazeera journalists

An Egyptian court is to begin a retrial of Al-Jazeera journalists Thursday, including a Canadian awaiting deportation, after an appeals court said their initial trial failed to show Muslim Brotherhood links. The appeals court on January 1 ordered the retrial of three Al-Jazeera journalists after overturning a lower court’s verdict which found them guilty of aiding the outlawed Islamist movement. One of the defendants, Australian Peter Greste, has since been released under a new law that allows the deportation of foreign nationals on trial in Egypt.

The court did not wait for medical and legal reports which it had requested after several defendants spoke of being under physical and moral pressure [to make confessions].

The Court of Cassation statement

The lower court had sentenced Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed to up to 10 years in jail for spreading “false news” in their coverage of protests after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood. The three journalists of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera English were arrested in December 2013. Since the retrial was ordered, Fahmy has renounced his Egyptian citizenship to also benefit from the deportation law. However the third journalist, producer Mohamed, faces an indefinite period in jail as he only has Egyptian nationality.

Middle East FreeAJstaff