Egypt Leader Sisi Pardons Two of Three Jailed Al Jazeera Journalists

Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were included in a list of 100 prisoners receiving amnesty.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Sisi on Wednesday pardoned two of the three Al Jazeera television journalists accused of links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, local media reported.

In August, an Egyptian court sentenced three journalists employed by the Qatar-based broadcaster — Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian Baher Mohamed and Australian Peter Greste — to three years in prison.

According to Egypt's news website Ahram Online, Fahmy and Mohamed were included in a list of 100 prisoners receiving amnesty.

In 2013, the three journalists were arrested in Egypt while documenting unrest following the overthrow of then-president Mohamed Morsi. Later, the reporters were arrested, charged, and found guilty of aiding a terrorist organization reported to be connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, a political and religious movement headed by Morsi.

Initially, Greste and Fahmy received seven years behind bars, while Mohamed was given 10 years. Earlier this year, an appeals court ordered a retrial, stating that the initial verdict was made on little evidence.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar have been strained, as Doha supports the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement of Morsi, whom Sisi deposed.