Egyptian prosecution fails to provide evidence against Al Jazeera journalists

The technical committee tasked with providing evidence against jailed Al Jazeera correspondents has failed to submit any evidence that proves Al Jazeera coverage on Egypt was fabricated, the Doha-based network said Monday.

Moreover, the committee failed to elaborate how Al Jazeera threatens Egyptian national security.

One of the committee members has been present at the time of arresting the journalists, which undermines his credibility as an independent expert in the committee, the network added.

The public prosecution has submitted a report at the beginning of the trial, suggesting that the defendants publicized falsified news, which “threatened national unity and social peace” and “called for spreading chaos.”

Sunday’s trial is the 11th hearing session where Peter Gresty, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy are standing trial.

Al Jazeera network said in a statement that the interrogations “represent another blow to the charges; the evidence presented is extremely absurd.”

“The world is aware more than ever that there is no accusation worthy of response by our journalists. They are completely innocent.”

Al Jazeera expressed hopes that the case would end soon so that the journalists would be reunited with their families and would carry on their professional work.

A fourth Al Jazeera journalist, Abdullah El Shamy, arrested without charges since August 14, has been placed in solitary confinement for two weeks amidst fears about his health.

According to AFP, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, one of the correspondents on trial, told reporters after the session: “today’s session proves that the technical committee was asked to say what the prosecution wanted it to say.”

The evidence presented by the prosecution merely included videos from channels other than Al Jazeera and poor-quality audio recordings, AFP said.