Update: Marriott cell case adjourned to March 5

20 journalists working for the Qatari-based television network Al Jazeera are standing trial Thursday for the case widely known as the 'Marriott Cell', on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, working without permission, and other accusations. The case was adjourned to March 5.

Signed by State Security Prosecution, the referral order issued on January 29 includes the names of 20 journalists, technicians and staff members. Egyptian-Canadian Cairo Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera English Mohamed Fadel Fahmy is among the defendants in the case.

Alaa Bayoumi, Anas Abdel Wahab, Khalil Ali, Ahmed Abdo Fath al-Bab, Baher Mohamed Ghorab, Mohamed Fawzi Ibrahim, Saeed Abdel Hafeez, Nora Hassan al-Banna, Ahmed Abdallah Attia, Khaled Abdel Rahman Mahmoud, Soheib Saad, Khaled Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Shadi Abdel Hameed, Ahmed Abdel Hameed and Anas Mohamed al-Beltagi face the charges of joining an illegal group. 

The defendants, according to the prosecution, are accused of belonging to an organization that aims to call for the forcible downfall of the ruling regime, disturbing the rule of law, breaching personal freedoms of citizens and the social wellbeing of the society, and using terrorism as a tactic to achieve the aforementioned aims.

Eight defendants face additional charges of possessing promotional material and recordings advertising the group's teachings with knowledge of the aims of the illegal organization. All 20 defendants face charges of providing an illegal group with information and funds.

Al Jazeera English producer Baher Mohamed is charged with possession of firearms and ammunition. 

Some of the defendants are also accused of possessing communication devices without permission from authorities, as well as deliberately airing "fabricated" news pieces to falsely show the world that Egypt is witnessing a civil war, with the intent of weakening the reputation of the state and endangering national security. 

Among the defendants are Peter Greste (Australian), Dominic Laurence John (British), Susan Melanie (British) and Johanna Ideniette (Dutch). 

The order referred the defendants to the Cairo Criminal Court and demanded the arrest of the defendants who are still free; today's hearing will take place at the Police Academy in the Fifth Settlement. 

Fadel's family said in a statement that Al Jazeera English is still aired in Egypt, meaning that working for the channel should not be considered a crime in and of itself, adding that "not renewing his press card should not justify dealing with him as a terrorist. If his crime is having numbers of the Muslim Brotherhood members in his contact list, this should be considered evidence of exerting effort to present all sides of the Egyptian political sphere just like any professional journalist. This does not mean that he belongs to the Brotherhood.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists has recently issued a statement stating that “Foreign news organizations seen as not in favor of the military have been harassed.”

A 22-minute video of the Al Jazeera journalists' arrest and interrogation aired last December, causing controversy and widely cited as evidence of a violation of rights. The footage, titled “Marriott Cell,” showed laptops, external hard drives, notepads and copies of “Egyptian Freedom Story,” a book one of the defendants wrote after the January 25 uprising.