Peter Greste retrial: Timeline of key events in Al Jazeera journalists' trial

Updated

The battle between Al Jazeera English journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and the Egyptian state has now been going on for nearly two years.

The three are accused of associating with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, designated a terrorist organisation, and conspiring to overthrow the state.

Analysts maintain that the case is symptomatic of an ongoing political battle between Egypt and Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based, and that the journalists are caught up in a battle that is not theirs, being scapegoated for simply doing their job.

Greste may have been unexpectedly released from prison but he is still being tried as a criminal in absentia, and the final verdict, however far away, carries serious implications for the individuals involved and international journalism as a whole.

Here is a timeline looking back at key events in the Al Jazeera trial, beginning with Egypt's military coup and what has happened since.

Egypt's military coup

July 3, 2013

A little more than two years after the January 2011 political uprisings that ousted former leader Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi — a member of the Muslim Brotherhood — is deposed in a military coup following mass protests throughout the country which started on June 30.

The contentious move enacted by former army leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who President Morsi appointed less than a year earlier, was countered by a series of mass sit-ins, protests and demonstrations from Muslim Brotherhood and democracy supporters.

At around the same time, Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau is raided and closed down by state authorities, accompanied by accusations that its English component served as a platform for unpatriotic revolution and its Arabic counterpart was a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera's staff, however, continued reporting using hotel rooms and local facilities around the country, a highly common practice in international journalism.



Crackdowns

August 14, 2013

Following the continued outbreak of anti-coup protests and violent street clashes, the Egyptian military launched a sweeping crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, anti-nationalistic journalism outlets and anti-Mubarak activists that continues to this day.

After two years of relative media freedom in Egypt following 2011 uprisings, news channels and networks were quickly shut down and silenced, and foreign journalists apartments were often raided.

One of the crackdown's most prominent moments came on August 14 when the Egyptian military violently dispersed the Brotherhood's sit-in in Rabaa square, killing hundreds of demonstrators on that day.

In the months following, hundreds of Egyptian citizens were killed, thousands were jailed without trial, and journalists who engaged the Brotherhood faced rapidly increasing pressure and danger despite them having been in power merely weeks before.

Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation

December 25, 2013

Egyptian state authorities designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, outlawing the country's most successful political opponent, and pledged to treat anyone who associated with it as a terrorist.

Al Jazeera English staff arrested

December 29, 2013

Fahmy, Greste, and Mohamed are arrested in their Marriott hotel room, accused with aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood due to reports and news packages from preceding months that engaged the group.

Egypt's Interior Ministry released a statement claiming that the journalists used rooms in the Marriott to meet with Brotherhood members and "broadcast news that harms national security as well as spread false information for Al Jazeera, without the approval of relevant authorities."

Egyptian-Canadian Fahmy was Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau chief, while Mohamed was an Egyptian producer for the network. Australian Greste had only been in Egypt for a few weeks working with the two as a correspondent, his first time in the country.

The three journalists assumed the matter would be resolved in hours as arrests during this period usually resulted in temporary detainment and confiscated equipment.

Journalists referred to criminal court

January 29, 2014

In a disconcerting turn of events after being held in detention for a month, state prosecutors referred the Al Jazeera journalists to criminal court.

The prosecution accused the defendants of creating and spreading media footage that was "contrary to reality" and in the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The three vehemently deny all charges and continue to do so to this day.

The journalists were also slammed for not having valid press licenses to operate in the country, which, while true, led more weight to suspicions that the government was singling out the Qatar-based network, because from 2011 to 2013 many foreign journalists often worked with expired licenses due to political turbulence and difficulty in obtaining permits on time.

The case was from here on out referred to as the "Marriott Cell", and the name becomes widespread in local media accompanied with a heavy narrative that Al Jazeera was also a terrorist media organisation.

Trials and adjournments

February 20, 2014

The Al Jazeera trials begin, but are continuously dogged by mistrials, delays and adjournments as prosecutors struggle to bring any condemning evidence or witnesses to the courts.

Evidence that does surface consists of photos of Greste's family, video footage of rural Egypt, random news packages from non-Egyptian countries, and the video for the Gotye pop song Somebody Who I Used To Know.

Between the sessions where such evidence was provided, trials were usually adjourned due to absent judges and witnesses who never arrived.

This carried on for four months until June.

During one case, Greste was heard shouting out "unbelievable inefficiencies."

While distraught by the proceedings, onlookers became increasingly yet quietly confident that the case would be dismissed due to the obvious lack of evidence.

The prosecution meanwhile continued to demand the maximum penalty of 15 to 25 years be applied, employing the narrative of Al Jazeera as a terrorist media organisation.

Journalists sentenced to years in prison

June 23, 2014

After eleven mistrials and adjournments with no evidence, Greste and Fahmy were shockingly sentenced to 7 years in jail, while Mohamed was sentenced to 10 years, on charges of aiding a "terrorist organisation."

The sentences caused international outrage and sparked an international freedom of the press campaign by Al Jazeera, accompanied by the #FreeAJStaff hashtag.

The Al Jazeera lawyers filed appeals, but such actions were expected to take months to years to materialise.

Analysts regarded the sentencing as proof that the trial had nothing to do with the journalists, and entirely to do with an ongoing political battle with Qatar.



Sisi says no political interference

July 7, 2014

Following international criticism that the case was politicised, former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who had become president in May, told reporters that he would rather the journalists be deported than tried as the case was negatively impacting Egypt's image, adding that he had no control over the judicial process.

Analysts strongly disagreed.

Tony Abbott meets with Sisi

September 26, 2014

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and US president Barack Obama personally brought up the issue of Greste's release with the Egyptian president during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Both leaders met one-on-one with the Egyptian president, with Mr Obama reportedly pushing for the release of all of Al Jazeera's imprisoned journalists.

Politicians from Australia and around the world increased pressure on Egypt to release the journalists, accompanied by continued campaigns in the media pressing for their release.

Sisi issues deportation decree

November 13, 2014

Mr Sisi issued a sudden and unexpected decree allowing for the deportation of foreign detainees to their home countries, sparking hope for Peter Greste's release to Australia.

However, the decree did not include Egyptian citizens with dual nationalities, meaning that it did not apply to Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy.

It was widely speculated that the decree was designed specifically for Peter Greste, to remove him from the country due to mounting international pressure.

Sisi hints at journalists' release

November 20, 2014

In response to a journalist's question about whether or not he could personally pardon the Al Jazeera defendants, President Sisi stated: "Let us say that the matter is being discussed to solve the issue."

Egyptian appeals court orders retrial

January 1, 2015

About six months after the Al Jazeera sentencing appeals were filed, Egypt's appeals court, the Court of Cassation, considered a retrial.

Lawyers for the defendants quickly present brief arguments to the court referring to the lack of incriminating evidence presented in the trials and the session was soon adjourned.

Shortly after, the court returned with its decision to set aside the convictions and ordered a retrial, but refused requests to release the journalists on bail.

Greste released from jail

February 1, 2015

In a surprise turn of events, Greste was released from prison after more than 400 days behind bars and told to gather his belongings to head to the airport.

While still sceptical, due to the stop-start nature of the last 400 days, he met his brother at Cairo airport where the two flew to the island of Cyprus.

After a few days on the beach, they continued on to Australia where Greste was met with a huge welcome home reception that extended around the globe.

But despite the international celebrations surrounding his release, he was technically still on trial back in Egypt, and was both personally and professionally tied to the ongoing case as the retrial verdict was still pending.

Fahmy no longer Egyptian

February 3, 2015

In a bid to follow Greste and secure his own release, Fahmy renounced his Egyptian citizenship to become solely a Canadian citizen in the hope of also falling under the deportation decree.

Fahmy and Mohamed released on bail

February 12, 2015

Fahmy and Mohamed were released from prison on bail during the first session of their retrial.

Despite renouncing his Egyptian citizenship, Fahmy did not follow in Greste's shoes, but is made to pay bail of EGP250,000 ($44,000).

The retrial continued, but the two defendants were allowed to return to their families and sleep at home.

Retrials and adjournments

February 23, 2015

Following in the footsteps of the first set of trials in 2014, retrials were continuously adjourned, delayed by absences, and postponed at least ten times for over six months.

Each time, Fahmy and Mohamed were required to travel to court, only to be sent back home, while Greste watched closely from Australia with his lawyer awaiting the verdict.

Once again, the opaqueness of the proceedings and uncertainty with regards to the case's outcome was repeatedly stated by the accused, family members and reporters to be one of the most difficult aspects of the ongoing situation.

Some analysts said that Egypt's authorities were tasked with finding a way to spin the case in its political favour, while maintaining the anti-Qatar stance, as once again no evidence was brought forward to the courts.

Journalists sentenced again in retrial

August 29, 2015

Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed are sentenced to at least three years' jail at a retrial in a Cairo court.

Greste and Fahmy were sentenced to three years' jail, while Mohamed received an extra six months for possessing a single bullet.

The trio were charged with supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood and operating in Egypt without a licence.

Egypt pardons Al Jazeera journalists

September 23, 2015

Egypt's president officially pardons Fahmy and Mohamed, along with 100 other prisoners including journalists and prominent activists.

The pardon marks 633 days since the three Al Jazeera journalists were originally arrested on December 29, 2013.

"AJ is Free!" Fahmy tweeted following the news.

The decision came a day before Mr Sisi was to head to New York for the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

Greste's name was not included in the list of those officially pardoned.

Topics: journalism, world-politics, terrorism, international-law, law-crime-and-justice, egypt, australia

First posted