Thursday’s hearing to be the seventh in much-delayed retrial of Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy in Egypt.
Al Jazeera has rejected the court’s charges, saying its staff were just doing their jobs [EPA]
The retrial of two Al Jazeera journalists is due to resume in Cairo for more closing statements by the defence team.
Thursday’s hearing will be the seventh in the much-delayed retrial in Egypt of Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy.
The previous six sessions in the Cairo court, including the last one on June 4, were all adjourned.
The journalists are charged with aiding a terrorist organisation, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in Egypt after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi amid mass protests against his rule in 2013.
The journalists and Al Jazeera have vigorously denied the accusations, saying they were just doing their jobs.The journalists’ imprisonment reinforced the view of human rights groups that the government was rolling back freedoms gained after the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Fahmy, a naturalised Canadian who has given up his Egyptian citizenship, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were released on bail in February after spending more than a year in custody.
A third Al Jazeera journalist, Australian Peter Greste, was deported in February.
The journalists were originally sentenced to between seven and 10 years in prison. Egypt’s high court ordered the retrial in January.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
