CAIRO-
Al Jazeera journalists are due to appear in a Cairo prison court Thursday, charged along with 17 other defendants of having links to a terrorist organization and of spreading “false news.”
Journalists Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed have been in detention for more than 50 days.
The Egyptian government has accused them of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was declared a terrorist organization in December.
The trial of journalists for the Qatar-based channel comes against the backdrop of strained relations between Cairo and Doha, which is a backer of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, ousted by the army in July, and of his Muslim Brotherhood.
Prosecutors allege that the defendants, including award-winning Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, manipulated footage and supported the Brotherhood, which was banned after Morsi was deposed.
In all, 20 “Al Jazeera journalists” are on trial, but only eight of them are in custody.