Egyptian court sentences 2 Al-Jazeera employees to death

Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press Updated 3:17 am, Sunday, June 19, 2016

Egyptian police, lawyers and a judge (C-back) attend ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi trial on espionage charges at a court in Cairo on June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court sentenced Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties.The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation. Photo: MOHAMED EL-SHAHED, AFP/Getty Images

Photo: MOHAMED EL-SHAHED, AFP/Getty Images

IMAGE 1 OF 17 Egyptian police, lawyers and a judge (C-back) attend ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi trial on espionage charges at a court in Cairo on June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court sentenced Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties.The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation.IMAGE 2 OF 17 Egyptian police and lawyers attend ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's trial on espionage charges at a court in Cairo on June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court sentenced Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties.The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation.  IMAGE 3 OF 17 Egyptian journalists leave the courtroom following the trial of ousted Islamist president on espionage charges in Cairo on June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court sentenced Mohamed Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties.The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation.  IMAGE 4 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, listens to his verdict inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases. IMAGE 5 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, raises his hands inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases. IMAGE 6 OF 17 Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi (back), wearing a red uniform, looks on from behind the defendant's bars during his trial on espionage charges at a court in Cairo on June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court sentenced Morsi to life in prison in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties.The court acquitted Morsi of charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents but sentenced him to life for leading an unlawful organisation.IMAGE 7 OF 17 TOPSHOTS Al-Jazeera news channel's Australian journalist Peter Greste (L) and his colleagues, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (C) and Egyptian Baher Mohamed , listen to the verdict inside the defendants cage during their trial for allegedly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood on June 23, 2014 at the police institute near Cairo's Tora prison. The Egyptian court sentenced the three Al-Jazeera journalists to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years after accusing them of aiding the blacklisted Brotherhood. Since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the authorities have been incensed by the Qatari network's coverage of their deadly crackdown on his supporters.IMAGE 8 OF 17 Newly freed Al-Jazeera news channel's journalist Abdullah Elshamy (2nd R) stands outside the court during the trial of three of his colleagues for allegedly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood on June 23, 2014 at the police institute near Cairo's Tora prison. The Egyptian court sentenced the three Al-Jazeera journalists to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years after accusing them of aiding the blacklisted Brotherhood. Egypt last week released Elshamy, who had been on hunger strike for nearly five months in protest over his detention. He was arrested on August 14 when police dispersed supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, sparking clashes that left hundreds killed. IMAGE 9 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, is guarded by a policeman inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases. IMAGE 10 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, raises his hands inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases.IMAGE 11 OF 17 FILE - In this file photo taken Thursday, May 8, 2014, Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi sits in a defendant cage in the Police Academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt. Besides the current charges against him of conspiring with foreign groups, inciting the murder of his opponents and orchestrating prison breaks during the 2011 uprising that toppled his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's state prosecutor is now investigating allegations that Morsi leaked secret documents to Qatar via the Doha-based Al-Jazeera broadcaster, judicial officials said Wednesday, Aug. 27.IMAGE 12 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, raises his hands inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases.IMAGE 13 OF 17 Egyptian judge, Mohammed Shirin Fahmy, second right, reads the verdict against former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases.IMAGE 14 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, raises his hands inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases.IMAGE 15 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, wearing a red jumpsuit that designates he has been sentenced to death, is guarded by a policeman inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases.IMAGE 16 OF 17 Former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, listens to his verdict inside a defendants cage in a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy, in an eastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 18, 2016. An Egyptian court has sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Morsi, the case's top defendant, was also sentenced on Saturday to 25 years in prison. He was ousted by the military in July 2013, and has already been sentenced to death in other cases.IMAGE 17 OF 17

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced six people, including two Al-Jazeera employees, to death for allegedly passing documents related to national security to Qatar and the Doha-based TV network during the rule of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Morsi, the top defendant, and two of his aides were sentenced to 25 years in prison for membership in the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group but were acquitted of espionage, a capital offense. Morsi and his secretary, Amin el-Sirafy, each received an additional 15-year sentence for leaking official documents. El-Sirafy's daughter, Karima, was also sentenced to 15 years on the same charge.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, was ousted by the military in July 2013 and has already been sentenced to death in another case. That death sentence and another two — life and 20 years in prison — are under appeal. The Brotherhood was banned and declared a terrorist organization after his ouster. Khalid Radwan, a producer at a Brotherhood-linked TV channel, received a 15-year prison sentence.

On Saturday an Egyptian court sought the death penalty for three journalists and three others charged with endangering national security by leaking state secrets and documents to Qatar. After the sentence has been referred to the top religious authority,

Media: WochIt Media

All of Saturday's verdicts can be appealed. Of the case's 11 defendants, seven, including Morsi, are in custody.

Amnesty International called for the death sentences to be immediately thrown out and for the "ludicrous charges against the journalists to be dropped."

The two Al-Jazeera employees — identified by the judge as news producer Alaa Omar Mohammed and news editor Ibrahim Mohammed Hilal — were sentenced to death in absentia along with Asmaa al-Khateib, who worked for Rasd, a media network widely suspected of links to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Al-Jazeera condemned the verdicts, saying they were part of a "ruthless" campaign against freedom of expression, and called on the international community to show solidarity with the journalists.

"This sentence is only one of many politicized sentences that target Al Jazeera and its employees," the network's acting director Mostefa Souag said in a statement. "They are illogical convictions and legally baseless. Al Jazeera strongly denounces targeting its journalists and stands by the other journalists who have also been sentenced."

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A news story that appeared earlier on the Al-Jazeera English website identified Hilal as a former director of news at Al-Jazeera's Arabic channel and said Alaa Omar Mohammed was an Al-Jazeera employee until last year. The network's statement confirmed Hilal's status, but only said that Mohammed was "identified by the prosecution as an Al-Jazeera journalist."

The three other defendants sentenced to death Saturday are documentary producer Ahmed Afify, EgyptAir cabin crew member Mohammed Keilany and academic Ahmed Ismail.

Judge Mohammed Shirin Fahmy recommended the death sentence for the six last month. Under standard procedure in cases of capital punishment, his recommendation went to the office of Egypt's Grand Mufti, the nation's top Muslim theological authority, for endorsement.

Fahmy quoted the Mufti's office as saying the six had sought to harm the country when they passed to a foreign nation details of the army's deployment as well as reports prepared by intelligence agencies.

"They are more dangerous than spies, because spies are usually foreigners, but these are, regrettably, Egyptians who betrayed the trust," the judge said. "No ideology can ever justify the betrayal of one's country."

Egypt's relations with Qatar have been fraught with tension since the ouster of Morsi, who enjoyed the support of the tiny but wealthy Gulf state. Cairo also maintains that Al-Jazeera's news coverage of Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East is biased in favor of militant Islamic groups.

Last year, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pardoned two imprisoned journalists from the Al-Jazeera English news network. Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-born Canadian, and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were arrested in December 2013. They had been sentenced to three years in prison for airing what a court described as "false news" and coverage biased in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The prosecution of the two, along with Australian Peter Greste — another Al-Jazeera English reporter who was deported in February last year — drew strong international condemnation.

Egypt was ranked 158 out of 180 countries in the 2015 Press Freedom Index, according to Reporters Without Borders. In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Egypt was second only to China as the world's worst jailer of journalists in 2015.

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