An appeals court in Cairo on Wednesday ordered a new trial for three imprisoned Al-Jazeera journalists, who include Egyptian-Canadian correspondent Mohammed Fahmy.
The journalists have been held for over a year on what most international observers say are trumped up charges.
Fahmy, Al-Jazeera’s Cairo bureau chief at the time, and colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were arrested on Dec. 29, 2013 in a Cairo hotel room they were using as an office.
They were charged with supporting the banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi and with fabricating footage to undermine Egypt’s national security.
Fahmy and Grest, an dual Australian-Latvian citizen, were sentenced to seven years in prison. Mohamed, an Egyptian national, was sentenced to 10 years.
The journalists have denied all the charges.
Canadian officials say they have carried out back-channel negotiations to secure Fahmy’s release, and last week, Ottawa said Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird would travel to Egypt in January for futher negotiations.
Although the appeals court ordered a new trial, it did not grant bail to Fahmy and his two colleagues, none of whom appeared at Wednesday’s hearing.
Defence lawyers speculate the new trail second could be held within a month.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said he had hoped the journalists would be deported rather than being detained and put on trial.
He has also said he would not interfere in the legal process although he holds the power to issue pardons.
Mr. Fahmy’s parents moved to Canada from Egypt in 1991 when he was a child. He became a Canadian citizen with them.
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