Cairo court to hold third hearing for Al-Jazeera journalists

The Cairo Criminal Court is to hold the third hearing session for 20 Egyptians, including four Al-Jazeera journalists, in what has been called “the Mariott Information Cell”.

Egyptian authorities arrested three Al-Jazeera English journalists from the hotel where they lived in Cairo in December 29, 2013. They were reporting the events unfolding in Egypt.

Al-Jazeera Arabic’s Abdullah Al-Shami was arrested in August 14, 2013, when the Rabaa protest was violently dispersed. He was arrested from the scene of Rabaa incidents. He has been on hunger strike for four weeks.

Al-Jazeera staff have been subjected to harassment and equipment confiscation since the military coup against the first freely elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

On the same day that the Rabaa and Al-Nahda protests in Cairo were violently dispersed, Egyptian military forces broke into Al-Jazeera English channel’s office in Cario and detained 28 staff members for several hours and confiscated equipment.

Egyptian media has accused Al-Jazeera of increasing hostility in Egypt especially during the June 30 revolution.