An Egyptian court on Sunday again postponed announcing a verdict in the retrial of three Al-Jazeera English journalists, extending the long-running trial criticised worldwide by press freedom advocates and human rights activists.
The case against Canadian national Mohammed Fahmy, Australian journalist Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed embroiled their journalism into the wider conflict between Egypt and Qatar following the 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsy.
Judge Hassan Farid, who oversaw the case against the three, did not attend Sunday’s hearing. Another judge announced the case had been postponed.
“It’s more suffering for us, more waiting,” Mr. Mohammed said after the postponement. “The ordeal continues and I have no idea what’s going on.”
Mr. Fahmy added- “It’s crippling our lives.”
The case began in December 2013, when Egyptian security forces raided the upscale hotel suite used by Al-Jazeera at the time to report from Egypt. Authorities arrested Mr. Fahmy, Mr. Greste and Mr. Mohammed, later charging them with allegedly being part of Morsy’s Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities have declared a terrorist organisation, and airing falsified footage intended to damage national security.
Since Morsy’s ouster, Egypt has cracked down heavily on his supporters, and the journalists were accused of being mouthpieces for the Brotherhood. Al-Jazeera and the journalists have denied the allegations, saying they were simply reporting the news. However, Doha has been a strong supporter of the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups in the greater Mideast.
At trial, prosecutors used news clips about an animal hospital with donkeys and horses, and another about Christian life in Egypt, as evidence they broke the law. Defence lawyers and even the judge dismissed the videos as irrelevant. Nonetheless, the three men were convicted on June 23, 2014, with Mr. Greste and Mr. Fahmy sentenced to seven years in prison and Mr. Mohammed to 10 years.
The verdict brought a landslide of international condemnation and calls for newly elected President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who as military chief led the overthrow of Morsy, to intervene. Egypt’s Court of Cassation, the country’s highest appeals court, later ordered their retrial, saying the initial proceedings were marred by violations of the defendants’ rights.
Egypt deported Mr. Greste in February, though he remains charged in the case. Mr. Fahmy and Mr. Mohammed were later released on bail.
“The three of us may not physically be in prison, but until we are completely exonerated of all the charges, neither are we truly free,” Mr. Greste said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr. Fahmy was asked to give up his Egyptian nationality by Egyptian officials in order to qualify for deportation. It’s not clear why he was deported, though Mr. Fahmy said he thinks Canada could have pressed Cairo harder on the matter.
Angered by Al-Jazeera handling of the case, Mr. Fahmy has filed a lawsuit in Canada seeking $100 million from the broadcaster, saying that it put the story ahead of employee safety and used its Arabic-language channels to advocate for the Brotherhood. Al-Jazeera has said Mr. Fahmy should seek compensation from Egypt.
