Egypt judge orders release of 2 Al-Jazeera English journalists

CAIRO -- An Egyptian judge on Thursday ordered the release on bail of a pair of Al-Jazeera English journalists being retried on terror-related charges, bringing cheers from their families who have sought to get them out of detention for more than a year and are hoping for a resolution in the case.

The prosecution of the journalists, who were convicted by a lower court after a trial widely dismissed as a sham, has brought heavy international criticism on Egypt. Two weeks earlier, a third defendant - Australian Peter Greste - was deported, a step widely seen as a signal that authorities want to find a face-saving way to end the controversy.

His co-defendant, Mohammed Fahmy, is also seeking deportation. He renounced his Egyptian citizenship to be eligible for deportation to Canada, where he also holds citizenship. But the judge on Thursday didn't address the issue, instead ordering Fahmy to post the equivalent of $33,000 in bail. No other defendant was ordered to post bail. Judge Hassan Farid adjourned the trial until Feb. 23.

A third defendant, Baher Mohammed, holds no foreign citizenship and is not eligible for deportation.

"I didn't ask to give up my Egyptian citizenship. I was asked to do so," Fahmy said in the courtroom, wearing a sling for a shoulder that has been injured since before his arrest and only worsened in detention. He said security officials had asked him to do so because the case had become a "nightmare" for Egypt, and an official told him "citizenship is not a piece of paper. It is in the heart."

Fahmy said he had been told by Canadian officials that his deportation was imminent. "We packed up our luggage. My fiancée quit. We booked tickets." Attendees clapped after he finished his statement, and he raised an Egyptian flag in the courtroom. He said the official reassured him that he can always come back to Egypt to reapply for citizenship.

Lawyers said the judge said all defendants must report to their local police station every day and in a vague sentence said none are allowed to leave their hometown. Fahmy's lawyer Khaled Abu Bakr said it was not clear if this was an explicit decision against Fahmy leaving.

Fahmy's mother, Wafaa Bassiouni, said they are rushing to post bail before the end of the working day Thursday but it remains unclear if her son will be able to leave the country. She said embassy officials told her the deportation law must still be activated if Fahmy is to leave Egypt.

"We hope to learn more in the next few hours," she told The Associated Press. "We are happy the gloom has now lifted. It is an opening of hope... But we hope for acquittal, not just release. Nothing he has done deserves those 14 months in prison."

Also being freed on bail are 11 other defendants in the case, mostly students charged with involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood.

It was not immediately clear if they would walk free Thursday, the last day before the weekend in Egypt. And what comes next is also unclear. Defendants' lawyers and families believe authorities want to resolve the case, but how they would do so - and how long it would take -- is not known. The intention may be to finish the retrial.

Canadian Minister of State for Consular Affairs Lynne Yelich welcomed the bail order and called for Fahmy's "immediate and full release," saying he should not have to face retrial. She urged President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to resolve the case.

Still, the families of defendants cheered the decision.

Fahmy's fiancée, Marwa Omara, broke down in tears, and cried: "Long live Justice."

"I am very happy. It is a rebirth for me and Mohamed," she said. She added that they will plan their long delayed wedding now that Fahmy is to be released.

Mohammed's wife, Jehane Rashed, also wept with relief. "I am happy, but my happiness is incomplete until he gets acquitted." Rashed delivered a child while he was in detention.

Qatar-based Al-Jazeera called the court's decision "a small step in the right direction" that allows the journalists to spend time with their families.

"The focus though is still on the court reaching the correct verdict at the next hearing by dismissing this absurd case and releasing both these fine journalists unconditionally," the network said.

The Al-Jazeera English journalists were arrested in December 2013 in a raid on the hotel room they were using as an office as they covered Islamist protests following the military's ouster that year of President Mohammed Morsi. They were accused of working with the Muslim Brotherhood, which was declared a terrorist group after Morsi's ouster, providing it a mouthpiece and faking footage to make it appear like Egypt was facing civil war.

A lower court sentenced them to at least seven years in prison after a trial that was widely denounced as a sham, with no hard evidence produced against them. A retrial was later ordered.

Fahmy and Mohammed were in court Thursday behind a soundproof glass cage for the first time - a recent feature in Egyptian courts, as authorities seek to limit the ability of defendants to protest or interrupt proceedings. The judge controls when the defendants can be heard through a microphone, and families and lawyers complained that it was hard to see the defendants inside the courtroom cage.

Greste was freed following a new decree granting el-Sissi the power to deport foreigners during their prosecution or after their conviction.

"Strange feeling to watch my cell mates and brothers Fahmy & Baher in court from the outside. My heart is in the cage with them," Greste tweeted before the session began.

Speaking a day after his release from prison, Greste said that his freedom was something of a "rebirth" and that key to his well-being while incarcerated for more than a year was exercising, studying and meditating.

After Greste's release, Al Jazeera's Hasan Salim Patel, senior officer for Al Jazeera Media Network's Media and Public Relations Department, tells CBS News, "we are grateful the social media campaign has been calling for the release, however we need to continue the campaign to demand the release of all our journalists."