The trial of two Al Jazeera journalists was suspended until March 8 Monday; the defendants are to remain released until their trial date.
The court said in Monday’s session that the hearing had to be adjourned as two security officers who were called as witnesses were not present.
When the court convened the defense counsel of journalists Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy requested that Naguib Sawiris be called as a witness in the case, and also requested that Fahmy be returned his Canadian passport. The judge agreed to grant a copy of the passport, but not the original, as well as to return Baher Mohamed his Egyptian National ID.
Mohamed and Fahmy, employees of Al Jazeera English, were arrested on charges of broadcasting false news Dec. 29, 2013, spent more than a year in prison; their colleague Peter Greste, a dual Australian-Latvian citizen, was deported in late January. Mohamed and Fahmy were released pending their appeal in early February.
Fahmy, who was previously a dual Egyptian-Canadian citizen, renounced his Egyptian citizenship in late December in hopes of also being deported; a presidential decree in December states that the government may deport foreign nationals to serve a sentence or face trial in their home countries if it serves the interests of Egypt.
Following news that Fahmy had renounced his Egyptian citizenship, Al Jazeera stated that they were hopeful he would be released and deported “within hours,” however he remained in jail until a hearing with his co-defendants in which they were released.
Before the trial session, Fahmy told The Cairo Post that he is currently seeking deportation, but that he hopes to re-apply for Egyptian citizenship.
