The conviction of three Al Jazeera journalists who have been in prison in Egypt since December 2013 has been overturned and they are to be retried within the next month.
The decision was made by the court of cassation in Cairo yesterday in a hearing that lasted 30 minutes.
However, the court hearing for one of their cellmates, Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa, due to be held on January 6th, is unlikely to go ahead. An earlier hearing was postponed last month. Mr Halawa has not been sentenced but could, if convicted, face the death penalty.
Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were arrested in Cairo on December 2013 on charges of aiding an illegal organisation, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, and the spreading of propaganda. Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and Mr Mohamed to 10 years.
Former army chief and now Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013.
Some of the evidence produced by the prosecution against the journalists included a BBC podcast, a news report made while the journalists were out of the country, a pop music video by an Australian singer and several recordings on non-Egyptian issues.
There has been international condemnation of the arrests and regret has been expressed by President Sisi.
Negotiations It is
understood there have been significant negotiations between the Egyptian authorities and Qatar, which own the news network. Qatar has been viewed as a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Jazeera Arabic, sister channel to Al Jazeera English which employed the three jailed journalists.
It is unclear how the case of Ibrahim Halawa is proceeding. He was arrested in August 2013 after being accused of attacking Egyptian security forces. The 17-year-old had completed his Leaving Certificate and was in Egypt for an annual family holiday.
In a statement to The Irish Times, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had visited him in prison on "over 30 occasions" and there had been "ongoing and regular contact at official and ministerial level with Ibrahim and his family in Ireland".
In addition there had been “continuous contact between the Egyptian authorities and the Irish Embassy in Egypt” with “numerous meetings at ambassadorial level with senior officials from the foreign ministry, ministry of justice and the office of the prosecutor general”.
President Sisi issued a decree last November allowing for the potential repatriation of foreign nationals imprisoned in Egypt and awaiting sentence or trial.
The department said it was in “ongoing contact with the Egyptian authorities to obtain further necessary details as to the exact extent of the decree”.
The decree also has implications for the cases of the Al Jazeera journalists. Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy hold foreign passports and so both would be eligible for deportation.
According to the Halawa family Ibrahim is excited that at least two of his Al Jazeera cellmates may be released. The family said he is especially close to the Australian reporter Greste with whom he shares a “sense of being part western and part Middle Eastern”. Mr Greste has been teaching Mr Halawa to cook, the family said, and he has been telling the journalist about Ireland.
However, the family fear the release of the journalist would increase his sense of isolation and vulnerability.
The families of the jailed journalists also expressed concern at yesterday’s proceedings. Hopes had been high that all three might go free. Representatives of the relatives continue to question the independence of Egypt’s judiciary.