UPDATE: Mohamed Fahmy and his Al Jazeera colleague Baher Mohamed have been pardoned by the Egyptian president on September 23rd, 2015. Peter Greste had been freed and deported to Australia several months ago.
Amnesty International – Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy and his Al Jazeera English colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed are on trial in Egypt.
Their crime? Reporting the news and challenging the “official version” presented by the authorities. Amnesty International believes they are prisoners of conscience detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.
The three men were detained on December 29, 2013 and later charged with falsifying news and belonging to or assisting a banned terrorist organization. They face up to life imprisonment if convicted. Their trial is grossly unfair. Amnesty International fears that the charges may be an attempt to punish the journalists for Al Jazeera’s editorial line. The channel has been accused of being biased towards the now banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.