Two al-Jazeera journalists have been released on bail and reunited with their families after nearly 14 months in an Egyptian prison.
On Thursday a court in Cairo ordered the release of Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian citizen, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian, who are facing retrial on charges of supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
Photos on Facebook and video aired by al-Jazeera showed Mohamed, wearing clothes with the tag “Free Press”, hugging and playing with his children, one of whom was born during his detention.
“I will continue fighting for the freedom of expression, and I will not back off,” Mohamed said in the video. He said he was “proud of every moment … spent in prison for the freedom of expression.”
Mohamed’s wife, Jehan, had said after the ruling: “I will go immediately to the kids. They will be so happy. We were living in misery for so long.”
On Friday morning Adel Fahmy tweeted jubilantly that his brother had been released after posting bail.
My brother @MFFahmy11 has been released from the police station!! I am going on vacation before they arrest him again! Thank you all! #Adel
— Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (@MFFahmy11) February 13, 2015
A third colleague, Australian Peter Greste, was released from prison and deported two weeks ago. The three were arrested in December 2013 on charges of helping terrorists and spreading false news. Their convictions in June 2014 were regarded internationally as a farce.
In January an appeals court rescinded the trio’s jail terms, which ranged between seven and 10 years, and sent the case to retrial. The case continues on 23 February. Mohamed and Fahmy have to check in at a police station every day until then.
Unlike the other defendants, Fahmy was forced to pay bail, of 250,000 Egyptian pounds (£21,000). Fahmy renounced his Egyptian citizenship in the hope that he would be deported under a recent presidential order that allowed Greste to be sent back to Australia.
From Australia, Greste expressed his joy but said it was too soon for unreserved celebrations. “The trial is ongoing, and nobody has yet been acquitted,” he said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to the day when the court declares all of us innocent of the charges. Then the party will really begin.”
At least 10 other journalists remain in jail in Egypt, including the Demotix photographer Mahmoud Abouzeid, who is among at least 16,000 political prisoners in Egypt.
There was relief for a few of them this week as 36 men sentenced to death last year in a mass hearing that lasted less than an hour were given a retrial. The government said the news marked “the latest reflection of the independence, fairness, and transparency of Egypt’s judiciary”.
