Egypt court releases Al Jazeera journalists on bail

Egypt court releases Al Jazeera journalists on bail

An Egyptian court has ordered the release of detained Al
Jazeera journalists Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy
on bail.
The retrial was ordered by the country’s Court of
Cassation last month, overturning a lower court’s verdict
that had found them guilty of helping the outlawed
Muslim Brotherhood group.
“Bail is a small step in the right direction, and allows
Baher and Mohamed to spend time with their families
after 411 days apart,” an Al Jazeera spokesman said on
Thursday.
“The focus though is still on the court reaching the
correct verdict at the next hearing by dismissing this
absurd case and releasing both these fine journalists
unconditionally.”
Judge Hassan Farid said the next hearing would be on
February 23.
A third Al Jazeera journalist, Peter Greste, who was also
to be retried, was deported on February 1 under a
presidential decree after spending 400 days in prison. He
has since returned to his home in Australia.
The three journalists, along with seven colleagues
outside the country, were accused of spreading “false
news” during their coverage of demonstrations
protesting a military toppling of former president
Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed were given sentences of
between seven and 10 years.
In a bid to secure his own release, Fahmy renounced his
Egyptian citizenship so that he could be deported to
Canada, where he is also a citizen.
The journalists have repeatedly protested their
innocence, saying that they were punished for doing
their jobs.
Adel Fahmy, brother of Mohamed Fahmy, welcomed the court decision saying
his brother “is being vindicated.”
“He is being vindicated by this, and will be completely vindicated later on
when this case all falls apart completely,” he said.
Mohamed Fahmy’s fiance, Marwa Omara, also thanked the court “for doing
the right thing.”