Reuters reports the verdict in the trial of three imprisoned Al Jazeera journalists will be announced on June 23.
As the court announced the verdict date today, the journalists’ defense lawyers reiterated that this “trial is not a trial for these defendants alone – but a trial of all journalists.”
As the journalists’ defense lawyers made their closing arguments a little over a week ago, Fahmy shouted from his cage: “You’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty…in this situation, we are guilty the second you are arrested, treated worse than criminals, rapists, and killers.”
“On the balance of arguments, Al Jazeera hopes the judge will take into consideration the facts presented to him and acquit Peter, Baher and Mohammed of any wrong doing,” an Al Jazeera spokesperson said in a statement. “On June 23rd, the entire world will be watching Egypt to see whether they uphold the values of press freedom.”
Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed have been imprisoned in Egypt since the end of last year, charged with aiding the Muslim Brotherhood.