The two — Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed — were freed pending a
retrial. The network said by midday that they have been reunited with
their families in Cairo. A third co-worker, Australian Peter Greste, was
freed two weeks ago and deported to his home-country, Australia.
Baher was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison and Fahmy to seven
years but Egypt's top appeals court subsequently ordered a retrial after
overturning the initial ruling, citing "flawed evidence." On the first
session of the retrial on Thursday, the judge ordered their release.
Now that both are out, their next court hearing is due Feb. 23 and they
have to check in at a police station every day until then.
Early on Friday, Fahmy's brother tweeted that he posted $33,000 bail to
grant his brother's release, following a court decision on Thursday.
Mohammed's wife, Jehane Rashed, told The Associated Press that her
husband arrived home around 7 a.m. Photos on Facebook and video aired by
Al-Jazeera showed him hugging and playing with his children — one of
whom was born during his detention — and wearing clothes with the tag,
"Free Press."
"I will continue fighting for the freedom of expression, and I will not
back off," he said in the video. He was freed without bail.
The Al-Jazeera reporters spent over 400 days in prison after being caught in the bitter feud between Egypt and Qatar, main backer of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood group, from which ousted President Mohammed Morsi hails.
Thursday's decision indicated the court was moving ahead with a retrial
of Fahmy and Mohammed, but several scenarios are possible.
The court could eventually throw out the case, acquit them, convict them
but sentence them to time served, or impose more prison time, with the
possibility of a pardon from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
Like Australian Greste, Fahmy, who is Canadian, could also be deported
but prospects for Baher, who only has Egyptian citizenship, remain
murkier.
Cairo has signaled it wants to resolve the case and end the criticism
ahead of a major economic conference next month to drum up international
investment. Egypt's staggered parliamentary elections are also due to
start in March.
The three, who worked for Al-Jazeera's English-language channel, were
arrested in December 2013 and accused of belonging to the Brotherhood,
which was branded a terrorist organization after Morsi's removal from
power earlier that year.
Since the ouster, Egypt has been cracking down heavily on Morsi's
supporters, and the journalists were accused of being mouthpieces for
the Brotherhood and falsifying footage to suggest that Egypt faces civil
war. They rejected the charges against them, saying they were simply
reporting the news.
They were convicted by a lower court on terrorism-related charges and
sentenced to at least seven years in prison. The Court of Cassation, the
country's highest appeals court, also said in ordering the retrial that
the initial proceedings were marred by violations of the defendants'
rights.
Al-Jazeera called the decision "a small step in the right direction" but
said the court should dismiss "this absurd case" and release both
journalists unconditionally." abd(71)
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