Egypt court orders retrial of jailed Al- Jazeera reporters

Thursday, January 1, 2015 9:22 am

File Photo taken at the police institute near Cairo’s Tora prison shows Al-Jazeera news channel’s Australian journalist Peter Greste (L) and his colleagues, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (C) and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, listening to the verdict inside the defendants cage

Egypt’s top court on Thursday ordered a retrial of three Al-Jazeera reporters who were jailed on charges of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, a defence lawyer told reporters.

Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed of the broadcaster’s English service were jailed in December 2013 in a case that triggered global outrage.

“The Court of Cassation has accepted their appeal and ordered a retrial,” Greste’s defence lawyer Amr Al-Deeb said after a hearing lasting just 30 minutes.