The trial of Al-Jazeera journalists, including Australian Peter Greste, for supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsi will resume in a case that has sparked a global outcry over muzzling of the press.
The high-profile trial, resuming on Wednesday, is seen as a test of to what extent Egypt's military-installed authorities are prepared to allow freedom of the press, with activists expressing concern about a return to autocratic rule in a country roiled by political turmoil.
The trial of the Qatar-based channel's journalists also comes against the backdrop of strained ties between Cairo and Doha, which backed Morsi, deposed by the army in July, and the Brotherhood.
The journalists, including award-winning reporter Greste, are accused of supporting the Brotherhood and broadcasting false reports, after police shut down Al-Jazeera's Cairo offices in the aftermath of Morsi's overthrow.
Eight out of 20 defendants are in custody, with the rest on the run or abroad.
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In the first hearing on February 20, Greste said from the dock that justice would prevail.
Greste, a former BBC correspondent, and Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, who worked with CNN before joining Al-Jazeera, were arrested in Cairo in December.
He is the only foreign defendant in custody. Britons Sue Turton and Dominic Kane and Dutch journalist Rena Netjes, who was indicted even though she does not work for the channel, are abroad and being tried in absentia.
Prosecutors say the defendants falsely portrayed Egypt as being in a state of "civil war", a possible reference to the broadcaster's coverage of a government crackdown in which more than 1,400 people, mostly Morsi supporters, have been killed in street clashes.
The government has designated the Brotherhood a "terrorist organisation", although the group denies involvement in a spate of bombings since Morsi's overthrow.
Al-Jazeera, which says only nine of the defendants are on its staff, has denied the charges.
