Three Al-Jazeera journalists on trial in Egypt denied accusations that they were terrorists running an international ‘sleeper cell’, as they were paraded before the court in cages.
The three journalists directly asked the judge in the Cairo court to release them, calling the charges against them ‘preposterous’.
The judge, Mohammed Nagi Shehata, denied the requests for bail from Peter Greste, an Australian producer from Al-Jazeera English; Mohammed Fahmy the Canadian-Egyptian bureau chief, and cameraman Baher Mohammed, during the fourth hearing of the trial that opened on February 20.
The three Al-Jazeera journalists are among 20 who face terrorism related charges in Egypt, with authorities claiming they had links with the Muslim Brotherhood group of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi. The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation.
The trial marks the first time that journalists have been charged with terrorism-related offences in Egypt, and has drawn international criticism.
The journalists say they were just doing their job as reporters, and have no links to the pro-Morsi group.
Greste told the judge that he is no threat to anybody in Egypt, and had only been in the country for two weeks before his arrest. He said: ‘The idea that I could have an association with the Muslim Brotherhood is frankly preposterous. “Our only desire at this point is to continue to fight and clear our names from outside of prison.”
Fahmy denied links to the Muslim Brotherhood by saying he was an alcohol-drinking liberal who had lived abroad for a long time. He said: “Have you ever heard of a Muslim terrorist that drinks alcohol?”
Fahmy had a fractured arm before his arrest, and has asked to be released so he could receive better medical attention, because his injury had deteriorated because of the harsh conditions in prison.
Mohammed asked the judge to ‘have mercy on us’, saying that his wife was pregnant and he wanted to be there with her.
The three journalists were arrested on December 29 at their hotel room in Cairo, where they had worked after Al-Jazeera’s office was repeatedly raided after Morsi was ousted during the Arab Spring.
Al-Jazeera has been accused by the government of being biased towards Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group.
The Al-Jazeera group, based in Doha, denies all charges.