Court In Egypt Sentences Al-Jazeera Reporters To Three Years Imprisonment

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

We previously wrote HERE and HERE of the arrest, conviction, and sentencing several Al-Jazeera reporters for the dubious accusation of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood through their coverage of the “civil war” in Egypt.

Now in its latest retrial, the Court sentenced Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed to three years imprisonment for operating without a press license and broadcasting material harmful to the state. An international outcry likely will follow.

Judge Hassan Farid declared the defendants “are not journalists and not members of the press syndicate” and claimed they broadcast with unlicensed equipment. Fortunately, Australian Peter Greste had been deported months earlier yet was nevertheless convicted and sentenced in absentia. In the original trial they were sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

Messrs. Fahmy and Mohamed were retaken into custody after the verdict, having been released in February after serving a year in detention.

By Darren Smith

Source:

eKurd Daily

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