Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who had been imprisoned in Egypt, were released on Thursday as they await a retrial. Fahmy and Mohamed are accused of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
An Al Jazeera Spokesperson issued the following statement:
Bail is a small step in the right direction, and allows Baher and Mohamed to spend time with their families after 411 days apart. The focus though is still on the court reaching the correct verdict at the next hearing by dismissing this absurd case and releasing both these fine journalists unconditionally
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This comes 11 days after Peter Greste, a correspondent for Al Jazeera who had been held for 400 days in Egypt, was set free and deported back to his home-country Australia. Fahmy is an Egyptian-Canadian, while Mohamed is Egyptian.
Fahmy, Mohamed and Greste were arrested back in December 2013, and were convicted last year despite maintaining their innocence. Egypt’s highest court granted them a retrial after the appeal process. The next hearing is scheduled for February 23.