As PN went to press, hopes were rising that Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy might be pardoned by the Egyptian president, general Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
The Egyptian-Canadian journalist has spent a year in prison along with his Al Jazeera colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed after being convicted of spreading false news and collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
After Egypt’s supreme court ruled on 1 January that the three should face a retrial – which could take up to a year – Fahmy and Greste, who is from Australia, applied for deportation.
Fahmy and Greste are serving seven-year sentences, while Egyptian Mohamed is serving a 10-year sentence.
Topics: Egypt