Egyptian President Considers Pardon For Jailed Al-Jazeera Jornalists

The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, suggested on Thursday he was considering pardoning journalists of the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television station jailed in his country for nearly a year.

Human rights groups condemned the trial of the journalists as a sham, western governments have decried the verdict, and the UN questioned Egypt’s judicial independence. The affair has contributed to tensions between Egypt and Qatar.

The three journalists – Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed – were sentenced in June to between seven and 10 years in jail on charges including spreading lies to help a “terrorist organisation”, an allusion to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, in a ruling that sparked a global outcry.

“Let us say that this matter is being discussed to solve the issue,” Sisi said in an interview with France 24 when asked if he could pardon the journalists.

Asked if a decision might be made soon, he said: “If we find this appropriate for the national security of Egypt, we will do it.”