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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Evidence Comes Up Short as Egypt Tries 3 Journalists | Evidence Comes Up Short as Egypt Tries 3 Journalists |
| (5 months later) | |
| CAIRO — Prosecutors on Thursday were unable to produce video footage that they say is the basis of their case against three journalists accused of conspiring to broadcast false reports about civil strife in Egypt. Instead, they showed a Cairo courtroom footage of family photographs, trotting horses and Somali refugees in Kenya. | |
| “It is obvious the prosecutor has not even looked at our videos or the evidence,” one of the defendants, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, shouted across the courtroom here. “The trial is a joke,” he said. “This is arbitrary detention.” | “It is obvious the prosecutor has not even looked at our videos or the evidence,” one of the defendants, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, shouted across the courtroom here. “The trial is a joke,” he said. “This is arbitrary detention.” |
| The judge nonetheless rejected the journalists’ appeals to be released on bail and returned them to jail until the next court session, scheduled for April 22. | The judge nonetheless rejected the journalists’ appeals to be released on bail and returned them to jail until the next court session, scheduled for April 22. |
| The three defendants — Peter Greste, an Australian; Mr. Fahmy, a dual citizen of Egypt and Canada; and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian — have been held since their arrest in December on charges that they conspired with the Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast false reports of unrest in order to bring down the military-backed government. All three journalists worked for Al Jazeera’s English-language news channel. A fourth Al Jazeera journalist, Abdullah Elshamy, who worked for its main Arabic-language channel, has been held without charges since last August. They have denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. | The three defendants — Peter Greste, an Australian; Mr. Fahmy, a dual citizen of Egypt and Canada; and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian — have been held since their arrest in December on charges that they conspired with the Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast false reports of unrest in order to bring down the military-backed government. All three journalists worked for Al Jazeera’s English-language news channel. A fourth Al Jazeera journalist, Abdullah Elshamy, who worked for its main Arabic-language channel, has been held without charges since last August. They have denied any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. |
| Their case has attracted international attention because the journalists are experienced and highly regarded professionals. Mr. Greste previously worked for the BBC, and Mr. Fahmy worked for CNN and was a reporting assistant for The New York Times. But their case has also opened a window into the treatment of thousands of other Egyptians detained since last August in the sweeping crackdown on dissent that followed the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. | Their case has attracted international attention because the journalists are experienced and highly regarded professionals. Mr. Greste previously worked for the BBC, and Mr. Fahmy worked for CNN and was a reporting assistant for The New York Times. But their case has also opened a window into the treatment of thousands of other Egyptians detained since last August in the sweeping crackdown on dissent that followed the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. |
| Several local university students also accused in the case stood alongside the three journalists on Thursday in the metal cage that holds defendants in Egyptian courtrooms. One of them, Khaled Mohamed Abdel Raouf, fainted and police officers carried his limp body out of the courtroom. The other defendants said Mr. Raouf had been on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his incarceration in the notorious wing of Tora prison known as the Scorpion. | Several local university students also accused in the case stood alongside the three journalists on Thursday in the metal cage that holds defendants in Egyptian courtrooms. One of them, Khaled Mohamed Abdel Raouf, fainted and police officers carried his limp body out of the courtroom. The other defendants said Mr. Raouf had been on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his incarceration in the notorious wing of Tora prison known as the Scorpion. |
| The students are being charged along with the journalists as part of the same conspiracy, but several of the students have said that they do not know the journalists or understand what is said to be their connection to the case. | The students are being charged along with the journalists as part of the same conspiracy, but several of the students have said that they do not know the journalists or understand what is said to be their connection to the case. |
| Neither the prosecutors nor the judge displayed any visible reaction to the startling lack of evidence. | Neither the prosecutors nor the judge displayed any visible reaction to the startling lack of evidence. |
| At one point, the judge ordered the courtroom technicians to display video footage contained on a small USB drive belonging to Mr. Greste, but it turned out to contain only material from his earlier work, in Nairobi. | At one point, the judge ordered the courtroom technicians to display video footage contained on a small USB drive belonging to Mr. Greste, but it turned out to contain only material from his earlier work, in Nairobi. |
| For a while the court watched a news conference held in English by a Kenyan official. A defense lawyer interrupted to tell the judge, who does not appear to speak English, that the news conference and other Kenyan material was irrelevant to the charges. But the judge nonetheless ordered the video to continue. | For a while the court watched a news conference held in English by a Kenyan official. A defense lawyer interrupted to tell the judge, who does not appear to speak English, that the news conference and other Kenyan material was irrelevant to the charges. But the judge nonetheless ordered the video to continue. |
| Over the course of the court session, more than a half dozen video clips were screened, but they appeared to come from the BBC, Sky News, Al Arabiya, and Mr. Greste’s family vacation. None came from Al Jazeera or were related to the charges in this case. | Over the course of the court session, more than a half dozen video clips were screened, but they appeared to come from the BBC, Sky News, Al Arabiya, and Mr. Greste’s family vacation. None came from Al Jazeera or were related to the charges in this case. |
| Despite calls from around the world for the release of the journalists, the judge ordered the prosecutors to sort through the video material before the next hearing. | Despite calls from around the world for the release of the journalists, the judge ordered the prosecutors to sort through the video material before the next hearing. |