CAIRO — Egypt began moving on Sunday toward a retrial of two journalists whose yearlong incarceration has drawn widespread condemnation from Western governments and human rights groups. Defense lawyers raised alarms that the government was failing to fulfill a deal for the imminent release of one of them.

The two journalists, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were both working for Al Jazeera’s English language network when they were arrested in December 2013. Both were caught up in a sweeping crackdown on dissent after the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite the absence of any publicly disclosed evidence, both were convicted of broadcasting false reports of unrest as part of a conspiracy with the Brotherhood, and each was sentenced to at least seven years in prison.

The two remained in prison after the release of a colleague arrested and sentenced with them, Peter Greste, an Australian, who was deported last week to his home country.