An appeals court in Egypt has ordered a retrial in the case of three Al Jazeera journalists convicted of spreading false news, however they were not granted bail.
A new trial is expected to take place within a month, but no date has been set, according to the BBC. A defence lawyer told journalists prosecutors said there were major problems with the verdict.
The three journalists were not in court for the brief hearing Thursday.
Scrum outside Court of Cassation in Cairo following #Jazeera appeal. pic.twitter.com/7CWaczbgny— Ruth Pollard (@rpollard) January 1, 2015
Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste were arrested in Cairo on Dec. 29, 2013, and convicted on terrorism-related charges in June.
Mohamed, an Egyptian producer, received a sentence of 10 years in prison while Egyptian-Canadian Fahmy, Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau chief, and Australian Greste, a former BBC correspondent, were sentenced to seven years each.
The three men were covering protests by supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and subsequently arrested as part of a crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood. They pleaded innocence and insisted they were simply doing their jobs as journalists.
Relatives of the journalists were disappointed by the decision not to give the three men bail.
Just heard mum of @PeterGreste saying on the phone "my God it's a retrial and no bail". Heartbreaking. #AJTrial— Sonia Dridi (@Sonia_Dridi) January 1, 2015
Parents of @PeterGreste very disappointed. Were hoping a release on bail. #AJtrial pic.twitter.com/If6slvj2zg— Sonia Dridi (@Sonia_Dridi) January 1, 2015
Earlier this week, protests were held marking the one year anniversary of the journalists' incarceration. Friends, colleagues and supporters gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in London holding banners bearing the hashtag #FreeAJStaff during the silent protest.