{
  "id": 74,
  "slug": "2013-egypt-al-jazeera-journalists-jailed",
  "title": "Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges",
  "occurred_on": "2013-12-29",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "EG",
  "country": "EG",
  "continent": "africa",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
  "leader_slug": "adly-mansour",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The Egyptian military's July 2013 removal of President Mohamed Morsi and the government's subsequent designation of his Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.",
  "outcome": "reversed",
  "outcome_on": "2015-09-23",
  "outcome_note": "President Sisi pardoned Fahmy and Mohamed on September 23, 2015; Greste had already been deported to Australia in February 2015 under a prisoner-transfer arrangement.",
  "granularity": "anchor",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "Months after the military removed President Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian security forces arrested Al Jazeera English journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed at a Cairo hotel; courts later convicted them of aiding a banned organization, and international pressure led to pardons.{c:280}{c:281}{c:282}{c:283}{c:284}",
  "what_happened": "On December 29, 2013, Egyptian security forces arrested Al Jazeera English correspondent Peter Greste, bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed at Cairo's Marriott Hotel, months after the military, led by then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, removed elected President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government later designated a terrorist organization. Prosecutors charged the journalists with aiding the Brotherhood and \"spreading false news\"; a June 2014 trial convicted them, and an August 2015 retrial, after the first conviction was overturned on appeal, again found them guilty of \"aiding a terrorist organisation,\" partly, the judge said, because they had not registered with the country's journalist \"syndicate,\" sentencing Fahmy and Mohamed to three years. Al Jazeera called the verdict \"a deliberate attack on press freedom\"; Greste, already deported and tried in absentia, said, \"We did nothing wrong. The court presented no evidence.\" President Sisi pardoned Fahmy and Mohamed on September 23, 2015, as part of a wider amnesty.{c:280}{c:281}{c:282}{c:283}{c:284}",
  "stated_justification": "Prosecutors charged the journalists with aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood and \"spreading false news\"; the August 2015 judge cited, in part, their failure to register with the country's official journalist \"syndicate\" and unauthorized broadcast equipment.{c:281}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "All three lost their liberty for over a year on charges press-freedom groups said lacked evidence; Al Jazeera said the verdict was \"yet another deliberate attack on press freedom,\" and the United Nations said it was \"very disturbed\" by the sentences.{c:282}{c:283}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "historical",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:22Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:16Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:10:59Z",
  "stage": "punish",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "Egypt",
  "tactics": [
    "detention_and_violence",
    "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "adly-mansour",
    "name": "Adly Mansour",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/adly-mansour"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-egypt-al-jazeera-journalists-jailed",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:09:22Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "historical",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
      "name": "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/abdel-fattah-el-sisi"
    },
    {
      "slug": "adly-mansour",
      "name": "Adly Mansour",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/adly-mansour"
    },
    {
      "slug": "baher-mohamed",
      "name": "Baher Mohamed",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/baher-mohamed"
    },
    {
      "slug": "mohamed-fahmy",
      "name": "Mohamed Fahmy",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/mohamed-fahmy"
    },
    {
      "slug": "peter-greste",
      "name": "Peter Greste",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/peter-greste"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "al-jazeera-english",
      "name": "Al Jazeera English",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/al-jazeera-english"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 280,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 74,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Journalists convicted of aiding a terrorist group",
      "statement": "The 2015 retrial found the journalists guilty of aiding a terrorist organization.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 234,
      "evidence_quote": "guilty of 'aiding a terrorist organisation'",
      "evidence_date": "2015-08-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:17Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 234,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "title": "Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
        "published_on": "2015-08-29",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/280"
    },
    {
      "id": 281,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 74,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Judge cites lack of syndicate registration",
      "statement": "The judge said the conviction rested partly on the journalists' failure to register with the country's journalist syndicate.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 234,
      "evidence_quote": "sentenced the men to prison at least partly because they had not registered with the country's journalist 'syndicate'",
      "evidence_date": "2015-08-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:18Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 234,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "title": "Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
        "published_on": "2015-08-29",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/281"
    },
    {
      "id": 282,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 74,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Al Jazeera calls verdict an attack on press freedom",
      "statement": "Al Jazeera said the verdict was another deliberate action against press freedom.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 234,
      "evidence_quote": "Today's verdict is yet another deliberate attack on press freedom",
      "evidence_date": "2015-08-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:18Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 234,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "title": "Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
        "published_on": "2015-08-29",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/282"
    },
    {
      "id": 283,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 74,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Greste says no evidence was presented",
      "statement": "Greste said the court presented no evidence and called the verdict political.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 234,
      "evidence_quote": "We did nothing wrong. The court presented no evidence. For us to be convicted as terrorists is outrageous. It can only be a political verdict. This is unethical",
      "evidence_date": "2015-08-29",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
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      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:19Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 234,
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        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
        "title": "Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/283"
    },
    {
      "id": 284,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 74,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Sisi pardons journalists in 2015 amnesty",
      "statement": "President Sisi included the journalists in a pardon of people caught up in demonstration-law and related cases.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 235,
      "evidence_quote": "100 young people trapped in issues related to the breach of the law on demonstrations and some humanitarian and health cases",
      "evidence_date": "2015-09-23",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
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      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:09:19Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 235,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/9/23/al-jazeera-journalists-freed-from-egypt-prison",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/9/23/al-jazeera-journalists-freed-from-egypt-prison",
        "title": "Al Jazeera journalists freed from Egypt prison",
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        "published_on": "2015-09-23",
        "link_state": "live",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/284"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 233,
      "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/12/30/al-jazeera-journalists-arrested-in-egypt",
      "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/12/30/al-jazeera-journalists-arrested-in-egypt",
      "title": "Al Jazeera journalists arrested in Egypt",
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      "published_on": "2013-12-30",
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    {
      "id": 234,
      "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
      "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/29/al-jazeera-staff-sentenced-to-jail-in-egypt",
      "title": "Al Jazeera staff sentenced to jail in Egypt",
      "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
      "published_on": "2015-08-29",
      "link_state": "live",
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    {
      "id": 235,
      "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/9/23/al-jazeera-journalists-freed-from-egypt-prison",
      "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/9/23/al-jazeera-journalists-freed-from-egypt-prison",
      "title": "Al Jazeera journalists freed from Egypt prison",
      "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
      "published_on": "2015-09-23",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
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  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-egypt-al-jazeera-journalists-jailed/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-egypt-al-jazeera-journalists-jailed. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}