Retrial date set for al-Jazeera journalists in Egypt
Jailed newsmen scheduled to appear in court next week following release of Australian colleague
CAIRO (AP) — Court officials say the retrial of two detained al-Jazeera English journalists will begin on February 12 in a case widely dismissed by rights groups as a sham.
Their colleague Peter Greste was released earlier this month and deported to Australia.
Canada’s now-former Foreign Minister John Baird said earlier this month, just prior to his recent resignation, that Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy could be imminently released after renouncing his Egyptian nationality.
It was not immediately clear how the retrial would affect that process.
Egyptian authorities accused the journalists of providing a platform for ousted President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organization. But authorities provided no concrete evidence.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press