3 jailed Al Jazeera staff appeal sentence
Lawyers for three Al Jazeera English staff jailed in Egypt have appealed against their convictions.
The case will now be heard before the Court of Cassation,
which will examine all the grounds of the appeal during hearing, for which a date has not
been set.
According to Al-Jazeera, Thursday's announcement by the lawyers for Peter Greste,
Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy comes just days after leading human rights
lawyer, Amal Alamuddin, demanded the release of the trio, saying the case was
an example of how to set up a "kangaroo court".
Egyptian authorities arrested the men in December last year,
accusing them of spreading false news, endagering national security and
supporting a banned organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood.
They were found guilty of those charges on June 24.
Lawyers for the men accuse Egyptian authorities of several
breaches of process in the case, arguing that there were flaws in the arrest
procedure, and that the evidence presented did not prove the charges made.
Legal teams for the journalists have also noted that the
judge presiding over the trial made mention of their lack of accreditation when
giving the verdict, which is not a criminal offence.
"The appeal will lay bare the flaws in the case against
Peter, Baher and Mohammed," Al Anstey, Al Jazeera's managing director,
said.
"These are three outstanding journalists who were just
doing their jobs.
"We look forward to them being exonerated in due
course. We will not stop in this quest till they are reunited with their
families."
Al Jazeera has dismissed the allegations and has called for
the immediate release of its staff.
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