An Egyptian court on Wednesday extended by 45 days the months-long detention of Al Jazeera correspondent Abdullah al-Shami and 185 co-defendants pending investigation into violence-related charges, a judicial source has said.
Al-Shami, who has been on hunger strike for over four months, reportedly appeared at the Wednesday court session.
When ordered out of the defendants' dock, al-Shami told the presiding judge that he wanted "nothing but justice."
Earlier Wednesday, a delegation from the government-appointed National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) visited al-Shami– who has remained in detention since last August – in his southern Cairo prison cell.
"Dr. Salah Sallam, a member of the delegation, examined al-Shami," NCHR member Nasser Amin told Anadolu Agency.
Amin said the delegation would provide details of its visit to al-Shami and Mohamed Sultan, the detained son of Islamist leader Salah Sultan, who began his own hunger strike in January, on Thursday.
Al-Shami and 462 co-defendants– detained on suspicions that they had "resisted" security forces and committed acts of violence – have yet to be formally charged.
Al-Shami was arrested last August while covering the bloody dispersal of a Cairo sit-in staged by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, during which hundreds of demonstrators were killed.
Since Morsi's ouster by the military more than 11 months ago, Egypt's army-backed government has waged a harsh crackdown on dissent, which has left hundreds dead and thousands behind bars.
By Islam Mosaad
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
