Egypt: Detained Al Jazeera journalists and others face criminal trial
Cairo : HelloEgy.
Three Al Jazeera journalists detained for a month are among 20 people referred to Egypt's criminal court to face trial, Egyptian state media reported Wednesday.
Four of the 20 defendants are foreigners: Australian Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste, two unidentified Englishmen and one unnamed Dutchman, state media said.
The foreign nationals face charges "of collaborating with the Egyptians (defendants) and providing them with information, equipment and money, as well as broadcasting false information and rumors to convince the international community that Egypt was undergoing a civil war."
The remaining 16 defendants are Egyptians, who face charges "including belonging to a terrorist organization, harming national unity and social peace, and using terrorism as a means to their goals."
Egyptian authorities arrested Greste, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of Al Jazeera English on December 29. They have been held since.
Egyptian authorities say the journalists held illegal meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood, which was declared a terrorist group in December.
Al Jazeera now is accused of many charges including the lack of credibility, forging news and evidences to serve the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremist trends. It also plays a dirty role to create chaos in the Arab countries. It is considered as the tool of the foreign intelligence to carry out the American and Israeli agenda.
Since the 30th June revolution, 21 Egyptian anchors, reporters, and technicians who were working for the channel, and its web site, had submit their resignations because of what the channel did considering counterfeiting facts about Egypt and its inciting against the army and the Egyptian people.
The administrative court has released the last month that "Al Jazeera channel" will be prevented form broadcasting in Egypt because of its inciting chaos inside the country. Qatar now suffers a critical situation since the revolution of 30th June, when the Egyptian army and the political trends has managed to remove the former president Muhammad Mursy, and throwing the Muslim Brotherhood government that was supported by Qatar. The observers have stated that by the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government , Qatar lost its dream in the region.
|