CAIRO
An Egyptian court on Thursday ordered the release of two journalists from Qatar's Al Jazeera television network at the first session of a retrial in which they face charges of "abetting terrorists" and "broadcasting false news. "
The Cairo Criminal Court ordered that Egyptian-Canadian dual national Mohamed Fahmy be released on bail set at $33,000, a judicial source told The Anadolu Agency.
His colleague, Mohamed Baher, along with 15 other co-defendants, was also released, albeit without bail.
Trial proceedings were adjourned to Feb. 23.
In June of last year, Fahmy, Mohamed and Australian national Peter Greste were all slapped with jail terms ranging from seven to ten years each after being convicted of "broadcasting false news" and "threatening Egypt's national security."
Greste and Fahmi were each sentenced to seven years in jail, while Mohamed was slapped with ten years behind bars.
Three other foreign Al Jazeera correspondents – two Britons and one Dutch national – were sentenced to ten years each in absentia.
Late last month, Greste was deported to Australia on the orders of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
The move was based on a 2014 law that gives the president the right to order the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of committing crimes in Egypt.
The trio was originally detained in late 2013 at a Cairo hotel only days after Egyptian authorities branded the Muslim Brotherhood – the group from which ousted President Mohamed Morsi hails – a "terrorist" group.
Several western governments and rights groups have called for the journalists' release amid an international solidarity campaign launched by Al Jazeera.
The Egyptian government accuses Al Jazeera of harboring bias in favor of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood – an allegation the channel denies – amid tension with the Qatari government over Doha's criticisms of Morsi's ouster by the army in mid-2013.
