Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy says high-profile lawyer Amal Clooney is defending him because she believes he is innocent, with the lawyer to lobby Egypt's president for a pardon if her client is again convicted of terrorism-related charges.
The Canadian, along with his Al Jazeera colleagues Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, has again been left waiting for a verdict in his retrial in Cairo.
It was delayed on Sunday for the second time in four days, with the men now due to learn their fates on August 29.
The trio is being retried for spreading false news and supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the military ousted president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
All three spent more than a year in jail before they were released and a retrial ordered after Egypt's Supreme Court questioned the integrity of their initial trial.
Mrs Clooney, who's married to movie star George Clooney, acts for Mr Fahmy and says the retrial has been no better.
The lawyer says not a single shred of evidence has been offered to support claims the men fabricated news stories and were linked to the Brotherhood.
She and Canada's ambassador to Egypt are seeking meetings with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who toppled Morsi, to discuss what his government will do in the event of a guilty verdict.
"We will be seeking confirmation of these meetings in the next week," Mrs Clooney wrote in a statement after Sunday's delay.
"And in the meetings we will seek an assurance that President Sisi will deliver on his promises to pardon the journalist if any guilty verdict is announced, or else deport Fahmy to Canada as previously agreed."
She said a guilty verdict must re-energise international efforts.
"If the court delivers another guilty verdict, the US, UN and other key international actors should urge Sisi to immediately step in," she said.
Fahmy on Monday told AAP that "Amal Clooney represents me because she believes in my innocence".
"She's not affiliated with Al Jazeera in any way yet has been outspoken and has labelled the case a show trial," he said.
Mr Fahmy noted Ms Clooney had previously publicly requested that Al Jazeera refrain from taking any action that could hinder his case.
Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed are free on bail in Egypt as they await the verdict, but Mr Greste has been back in Australia since February.
President al-Sisi unconditionally deported the Australian under a relatively new decree that gave him the power to expel foreign defendants convicted or accused of crimes.
The deportation came amid savage criticism from the international community that the case against the reporters was politically motivated.
An appeals court later ordered the retrial, but Mr Greste has said he could not return to defend himself without violating the president's order.
Mr Greste has expressed dismay at the latest delay.
"Even though the three of us are physically out of prison, until this whole mess is over, until we are fully exonerated of all of the charges, none of us are really truly free," he told AAP on Sunday.
