Two Al Jazeera journalists are set to appear in a court in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for their much-delayed retrial, with closing arguments set to begin at 10am local time (08:00 GMT).
Monday’s hearing will be the fifth in the retrial of Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy.
Prosecutors have accused the two of “spreading false news” and having ties to the former president Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group, charges which the journalists and Al Jazeera vigorously reject.
Another Al Jazeera journalist, Peter Greste, also faces the same charges but was deported back to his native Australia in February this year.
Greste was told by the judge that he must appear for the retrial or he will be formally declared on trial in absentia.
“That means I will automatically get a conviction if I don’t appear, but of course I can’t go back because President Sisi deported me, so I’m stuck in this legal limbo,” Greste told Reuters news agency in an interview published on Friday
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