On Monday, June 23, an Egyptian court convicted 3 Al Jazeera journalists of aiding the now illegal Muslim Brotherhood and “reporting false news.” Australia’s Peter Greste and Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy were each sentenced to 7 years, while Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed was given 2 sentences – one for 7 years and another for 3 years.
Amid mounting pressure on Egypt to pardon the journalists, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that he “will not interfere in judicial matters.” Sisi cannot legally pardon the convicted journalists until a final court ruling after an appeal.
On Friday afternoon, Al Jazeera tweeted photos of their newsroom as the whole staff stood in silence for one minute on-air as a sign of protest.
Journalists and citizens around the world posted photos and made bold statements in solidarity with the imprisoned reporters.