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January 5, 2015

Egypt Court Orders Retrial of Imprisoned Al Jazeera Journalists 
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An Egyptian court has ordered a retrial of three Al Jazeera journalists
jailed for over one year. Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed
were convicted on terrorism charges including "spreading false news" in
support of the Muslim Brotherhood, deemed by the government a "terrorist
group." On Thursday, Egypt's Court of Cassation overruled the original
conviction,
citing procedural flaws. But the three will remain behind bars until
their case is reheard. After the ruling, family members of Greste and
Fahmy called on the Egyptian government to release and deport them to
their home countries.

Andrew Greste: "Now that Peter is essentially an innocent man, he's not
a convict anymore, it does allow for some room to move and for steps to
be taken for [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi] to step in and
enact his presidential powers and deport him."

Marwa Omara: "I can't even imagine that he will stay for a year in
prison. His lawyer, Amal Clooney, just applied to the Egyptian
presidency and the Egyptian prosecutor for Mohamed to be deported to
Canada and be treated as a Canadian citizen and to continue the trial
there. I'm still waiting for a miracle to happen."

 

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