Criminal Court acquits Ramses defendants, including Jazeera cameraman

The Cairo Criminal Court found 62 defendants not guilty of charges of committing acts of violence in Ramses Square last July, state-run MENA reported.

The defendants were charged with attempted murder, thuggery, possession of unlicensed weapons, vandalism, blocking roads and illegal gathering.  

Seven people were killed on July 15 in clashes between supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi and police forces that were concentrated on the October 6 Bridge near Tahrir Square, Ramses Square, Nahda Square and the Bahr al-Aazam area.

Investigations revealed that protesters attempted to storm the Azbakiya Police Station using firearms and Molotov cocktails but were stopped by both security forces and the area’s residents. MENA reported that 27 police officers and 40 residents were injured in the violence.

Among the defendants is Mohamed Badr, a detained Al Jazeera cameraman, the channel's lawyer said in a statement posted on its website. Al Jazeera repeatedly denied the accusations leveled against him and called for his release.

The lawyer said that Badr should be free within the coming days since he was not held on any other charges, but that his release must be ordered by the court.

This comes days after 20 journalists working for the Al Jazeera channels were referred by State Security Prosecution to criminal court on charges related to terrorism and media violations.

The defendants are referred to in the prosecution papers as the “Marriott Cell,” because they rented rooms at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek, which was allegedly the base of a media center that collected and manipulated media footage to spread false information and rumors in the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Detained Al Jazeera staff include journalists working for Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr.

A report recently released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that following the ouster of Morsi on July 3, the military-supported government detained dozens of local and international journalists, particularly those viewed as critical of the government or sympathetic to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Most of them were later released, the report said.