Lawyers for the jailed Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt Thursday, August 21, 2014, filed appeals against their convictions. Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste, and Mohammed Fahmy had in June, 2014 been jailed 7 years by an Egyptian court over charges which many say are trumped up.
The weaknesses in the case against the journalists which includes ‘spreading false news’, have been widely protested and ridiculed, and much of the public criticism is reflected in the grounds for appeal.
The case will next be heard before the Court of Cassation, which will examine the grounds for hearing a full appeal. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.
Today’s submission to the court rests on the breaches of process in the case. These include, flaws in the arrest procedure, the fact that evidence presented in court did not marry with the charges, prosecution expert technical witnesses submitted statements which were somehow verbatim, and the journalists were accused of editing footage, but without originals, no one could have known whether they were in fact edited. The judge’s verdict made mention of lack of accreditation, but this is not a criminal offence.
Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, said, “The appeal will lay bare the flaws in the case against Peter, Baher and Mohammed. These are three outstanding journalists who were just doing their jobs, and journalism is not a crime. We look forward to them being exonerated in due course. We will not stop in this quest till they are reunited with their families, and back doing the jobs they love.”
The campaign to free the three journalists received a further boost this week when leading international and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin said they should be released, saying that the case was an example of how to set up a “kangaroo court.”
