Greste trial adjourned again

The trial of Australian journalist Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues has been adjourned again after experts were questioned by defence lawyers.

Peter Greste at a courtroom in Cairo

Australian journalist Peter Greste (AAP)

The trial of Australian journalist Peter Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues has been adjourned yet again by an Egyptian court.

It is expected to resume on June 5.

Greste, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy appeared in a Cairo court on Sunday, but there was little progress in the case, his Brisbane-based parents Lois and Juris said in a statement.

Al Jazeera reported defence lawyers cross-examined members of the technical committee on which the Egyptian prosecution had relied in charging the journalists.

The media organisation said the members could not recall a single example of what they believed was fabricated coverage from the Al Jazeera team or on how they had endangered Egypt's national security.

According to Al Jazeera, one of the committee members also claimed evidence was later added that was not originally submitted. It was also revealed that a member of the committee was present at the arrests of Fahmy and Greste in the Marriott hotel.

This was the eleventh hearing for the three men. They are accused of being part of a terrorist group and airing falsified footage intended to damage Egyptian national security.

Previous court dates have been entirely led by the prosecution, and included footage being shown of Sky News Arabia tourism reports, BBC podcasts, songs by Gotye, photoshopped images of Fahmy, Greste's family photos, and some of Greste's award-winning work from East Africa.

"Today's exchanges were a further blow to the prosecution case. The evidence that has been presented is palpably absurd. The world knows more than ever that our journalists have no case to answer and are completely innocent," an Al Jazeera spokesman said.

Greste been held without charge since August 14th last year.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world