EGYPT: Trial of three Al-Jazeera journalists adjourned in Egypt

Record ID: 165418

  • Title: EGYPT: Trial of three Al-Jazeera journalists adjourned in Egypt
  • Date: 5th March 2014
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (MARCH 5, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SECURITY AT GATE OF TORA PRISON (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AL-JAZEERA JOURNALISTS DEFENCE LAWYER, FARAG FATHY, SAYING: "Today the session was to hear witness testimonies and the most important of these testimonies was that of a national security officer who was in charge of investigating the journalists. From the questions directed to him by the lawyers of defendants numbers six and seventeen, and also the lawyer of defendant number five, it can be said that the accusations directed towards these three defendants have completely collapsed." SECURITY VEHICLES DRIVING AWAY FROM TORA PRISON (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BROTHER OF DEFENDANT MOHAMED BAHER, ASSEM MOHAMED, SAYING: "I haven't spoken to the lawyers yet, but I believe that at the end of the day they are journalists who carried out their jobs with professionalism, they did nothing against the law. The accusations directed towards them are far from the truth, none of them are affiliated to any political party, movement, or the Muslim Brotherhood, they use the same equipment used by all other channels. If they have a problem with Al-Jazeera, the journalists have nothing to do with it, so release them and then you can impose a travel ban on them and keep the trial ongoing." SECURITY VEHICLES DRIVING AWAY FROM TORA PRISON Details A witness testimony in the trial of three Al-Jazeera journalists weakened the case against them, a lawyer told reporters after the second session on Wednesday (March 5). The trial of the three journalists, charged with aiding members of a "terrorist organisation", was adjourned till March 24. Three of the Qatar-based television network's journalists - Peter Greste, an Australian, Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian national, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian - were detained in Cairo on December 29 and remain in custody, Al-Jazeera said. All three deny the charges and Al-Jazeera has said the accusations are absurd. Egyptian officials have said the case is not linked to freedom of expression and that the journalists raised suspicions by operating without proper accreditation. Farag Fathy, the lawyer defending Greste and Mohamed, said only one out of seven witnesses were questioned by the defence teams of the 20 defendants. "Today the session was to hear witness testimonies and the most important of these testimonies was that of a national security officer who was in charge of investigating the journalists. From the questions directed to him by the lawyers of defendants numbers six and seventeen, and also the lawyer of defendant number five, it can be said that the accusations directed towards these three defendants have completely collapsed," said Fathy. In January, a prosecutor said Al-Jazeera journalists had published lies harming the national interest and had supplied money, equipment and information to 16 Egyptians. The foreigners were also accused of using unlicensed broadcasting equipment. Baher's brother Assem Mohamed said the charges against his brother and his Al-Jazeera colleagues were false. "I believe that at the end of the day they are journalists who carried out their jobs with professionalism, they did nothing against the law. The accusations directed towards them are far from the truth, none of them are affiliated to any political party, movement, or the Muslim Brotherhood, they use the same equipment used by all other channels. If they have a problem with Al-Jazeera, the journalists have nothing to do with it, so release them and then you can impose a travel ban on them and keep the trial ongoing," said Assem. The government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group. The Brotherhood says it is a peaceful organisation. The Gulf state of Qatar, which funds Al-Jazeera, backs the Muslim Brotherhood. Its ties with Egypt have been strained since army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mursi last year after mass protests against his troubled one-year rule. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain said on Wednesday they were withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar because Doha had failed to implement an agreement among Gulf Arab countries not to interfere in each others' internal affairs.
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