In December 2013, the serene Marriott Hotel in Cairo’s posh island of Zamalek was the site of the arrest of three journalists working for Qatari network Al Jazeera.
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“The whole process has really been very opaque”.
Outside the dusty, sprawling Tora Prison complex in Egypt’s capital Cairo it was all rumour, confusion and anxiety.
“If this trial is fair, me and my colleagues have to be acquitted”, Fahmi said on Wednesday, adding that a court committee had acknowledged that there had been “no fabrication” in their coverage. “We ask that all branches of the Egyptian government work together in a concerted manner to address the situation of Mr. Fahmy”.
“This is an incredibly frustrating development”, Greste said.
An mad Fahmi said the delay was an insult to the defendants and their families.
But an appeals court later ordered a retrial, even demanding Mr Greste return to face the charges, despite the fact the president had ordered him out. He was, however, granted bail in February shortly after his second trial got underway.
“I know that I am innocent, my team is innocent and that me, Baher and Peter and everyone in the office has produced flawless reporting”, Fahmy told Fairfax Media.
Egyptian billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris, right, attends retrial of Al-Jazeera English journalist Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, left, at a court near Tora prison in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. The retrial of the two Al-Jazeera English journalists who face terror-related charges in Egypt has been postponed to March 19.
Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the acquittal of these journalists, who were released in February after being held for more than 400 days.
While all three journalists were found guilty of defaming Egypt and spreading false news, Mohamed, an Egyptian national, was sentenced to three more years for arms possession; a spent bullet casing. “Journalism is not a crime”. All have vehemently protested their innocence and say they were simply doing their jobs as journalists.
Al-Jazeera said it was mad at the adjournment.
However, Egyptian judicial officials who spoke to The Associated Press said the verdict has been postponed because the judge Hassan Farid is ill.
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Australian journalist Peter Greste in Canberra in March.
