Twenty journalists working for Al-Jazeera have been detained and are set to face trial for aiding or joining a terrorists group, drawing criticism towards Egypt's government for not respecting the freedom of the press, according to the Associated Press.
A date for the trial and a list of charges have not been released, but some of the journalists detained have been identified as Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, correspondent Peter Greste of Australia and producer Baher Mohamed who is Egyptian, according to the AP.
All three of the men were arrested on Dec. 29 when Egyptian security officials barged into the hotel room where the crew had been forced to stream from after authorities prohibited them from working out of their offices in Cairo, the AP reported.
It is the first time Egyptian officials are putting journalist on trial for terrorism-related charges and is only legal due to the recently passed law stating any Muslim Brotherhood member or supporter would be charged as terrorists, according to the AP.
Egyptian authorities believe the Qatar-based network is biased to the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Morsi, though the network denies any claims of bias and have stated they were merely reporting the truth, the AP reported.
After the ousting of Morsi, police began to target the network and its Egyptian affiliate who were still covering the Muslim Brotherhood movement, according to the AP. Egyptian authorities have also denied accreditation to reporters working with the network.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atty said "the reporters were operating without permits, and technical reports showed that they had fabricated footage" from different times and events and making it appear to be current footage, the AP reported. He has dismissed the issue of freedom of the press as not relevant in this case.
Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty says "the move sends the chilling message that only one narrative is acceptable in Egypt today - that which is sanctioned by the Egyptian authorities," according to the AP.
The United States has also expressed concern over the terrorism charges applied to the journalists, the AP reported.
Spokeswoman for the State Department Jen Psaki said the U.S. is still "deeply concerned about the ongoing lack of freedom of expression and press freedom," according to the AP.
"The government's targeting of journalists and others on spurious claims is wrong and demonstrates an egregious disregard for the protection of basic rights and freedoms," Psaki told reporters at a news conference, according to the AP. "We strongly urge the government to reconsider detaining and trying these journalists."
If the 20 journalist on trial are found guilty, sentences can consists of three years for spreading false information to 15 years for aiding or belonging to a terrorist groups, the AP reported.
