Egyptian court releases Al-Jazeera journalists

An Egyptian court released two journalists from Al-Jazeera English on Thursday. Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian who was released without bail, and Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian who was ordered to pay $33,000, were jailed for over a year in a case that sparked worldwide outrage.

The court's decision came on the first day of the pair's retrial, which is set to resume on February 23. Three students who were convicted in the same case, thought to be supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, were also released.

Mohamed and Fahmy's colleague Peter Greste was freed and deported to Australia earlier this month. All three were convicted of aiding the Brotherhood and spreading false news about Egypt. Fahmy wrote that they were all "pawns in a geopolitical game," in a recent piece for the New York Times. It is thought that they were the victims of tense relations between Egypt and Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based.

"I don't understand how there is a defendant in the same case, with the same evidence and exhibits, who was - and we're all happy for him - handed over to Australia," Fahmy told the court after he was allowed to leave.

Mohamed's lawyer had made the same argument, saying he wanted his client and Fahmy to be released "on the basis of equal treatment."

Fahmy has renounced his Egyptian citizenship in order to qualify for deportation, but the decree signed by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that allows him to do so does not apply to Mohamed, who only has an Egyptian passport.

es/jil (dpa, Reuters)