Egypt court postpones Jazeera retrial verdict

An Egyptian court postponed on July 30 its verdict in the retrial of three Al-Jazeera journalists accused of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood, in a case that has sparked a global outcry.

Australian Peter Greste, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were jailed last year for "spreading false news" during their coverage of the turmoil after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
 
Greste, who has since been deported, and Fahmy received seven years in the initial trial, while Mohamed was jailed for 10 years.
 
An appeals court ordered a retrial, saying the verdict lacked evidence against the three journalists working for the Doha-based network's English channel.
 
On July 30 the court did not hold its much-anticipated session, with a defence lawyer saying he had been told it was postponed.
 
The ruling is now expected on August 2, state news agency MENA reported. Earlier some relatives and lawyers said it was set for August 8.
 
"We are outraged that the verdict has been adjourned as today was meant to be the final court hearing for our colleagues," Al-Jazeera said in a statement.    

"Journalism is not a crime."  

The July 30 session had been keenly awaited by rights groups and families of the defendants.
 
"The entire world has its eyes turned on Egypt because this is a decisive trial for media freedom," the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on July 29.
         
Mohamed said the postponing of the verdict was "very strange".
 
"It's disturbing that the trial was postponed without informing our lawyers," he told AFP outside the court.
 
"I don't want to predict anything about the verdict....