A court session in Cairo due to hand down the verdict of the retrial of Australian journalist Peter Greste and two of his Al Jazeera colleagues has been adjourned. Egypt was holding at least 18 journalists behind bars in relation to their work, according to a prison census CPJ conducted in June.
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They were charged with a slew of offences, including supporting the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, a banned organization affiliated with ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
Their retrial had been ordered by an appeals court which said the initial verdict lacked evidence against the three journalists working for the Doha-based network’s English-speaking channel.
He says a terrorism-related conviction would have a devastating effect on his career as a foreign correspondent, restricting his ability to travel to countries that have extradition arrangements with Egypt.
But that’s not the case for his colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who are free on bail in Egypt awaiting the verdict. Mr Greste said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon.
“But I’m still deeply concerned about the prospect of a conviction”.
The third, Peter Greste was deported the same month and is being tried in his absence.
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The three men have received support from governments, media organisations and rights groups from around the world.
