An Egyptian appeals court ordered on Thursday the release of two journalists from the Qatari Al Jazeera news network on bail pending their retrial. Al Jazeera’s Canadian national Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed are being retried for defaming Egypt and spreading false news, after the Cassation Court dropped their seven to 10 years in prison sentences last month. Fahmy was released on a financial bail worth of 250 thousand Egyptian pounds. Baher and four other defendants in the case were released without financial bail. The case was adjourned until February 23. The two journalists remained behind bars after their colleague, Australian Peter Greste was released and deported last week. The three journalists were arrested in Cairo while working for the Qatari network in December 2013. They had initially been sentenced to prison in June 2014 but a court ordered their retrial in January. CALLS FOR FAHMY’S RELEASE During Thursday’s session, Fahmy’s lawyer Khaled Abu Bakr called for his defendant’s release on medical grounds. He noted that Fahmy is suffering from a shoulder injury as well as Hepatitis C. Greste was released from prison on February 1 after spending 400 days in…
After More Than 400 Days In Prison, Al Jazeera Journalists Released On Bail
February 12, 2015
