Protesters seek early release
About 50 demonstrators gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in London on Wednesday to call for the release of Al-Jazeera journalists due to stand trial in Cairo. The journalists stand accused of backing the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
Demonstrators held placards and taped over their mouths during the protest staged by the National Union of Journalists.
Former BBC journalist Peter Greste is among those detained.
Sue Turton, a former presenter for Britain's Channel 4 television who now works for Al-Jazeera, described Greste as a measured and balanced journalist and called on the judges to release the journalists after 53 days of detention.
She said, "We are trying to show the Egyptian government we are all watching and that we're all journalists concerned with releasing our guys and with press freedom for all journalists, foreign and domestic."
More than 38,000 people have signed a petition started by Greste's parents and the global campaign movement Avaaz.
The petition will be handed to the Egyptian government before the trial begins. If found guilty, Greste could face seven years in prison.
AFP
(China Daily 02/21/2014 page10)
