Al-Jazeera network denounced the ruling of the Cairo Criminal Court in Egypt, in absentia, to imprison colleague Ahmed Taha, presenter of Al-Jazeera Mubasher, 15 years, after his name was involved in a case in which others are being tried, on charges of "spreading false news".
On Sunday, the Emergency Supreme State Security Criminal Court in Egypt sentenced Ahmed Taha to 15 years in prison, based on the prosecution’s accusation that he had conducted a television interview with former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh on Al Jazeera Mubasher in February 2018.
Al Jazeera Media Network expressed, in a statement, its condemnation of this ruling, stressing that it has nothing to do with justice.
The network added that the decision was taken within the framework of a continuous campaign launched by the Egyptian authorities on Al-Jazeera and its journalists for years.
The network also confirmed that the court's decision represents a new downfall of justice and the judiciary in Egypt, and is not based on any legal foundations.
Al Jazeera also renewed its demand for the release of the four Al Jazeera Mubasher journalists, who are being held without charge in Egypt, who are Hisham Abdel Aziz, Bahaa El Din Ibrahim, Ahmed El Nagdy and Rabea El Sheikh.
The network called on organizations and bodies that support freedom of the press to condemn the arbitrary detention of journalists, and demand their immediate release.