Qatar and Egypt have traded barbs over Cairo’s death sentence against six people, including two Al Jazeera employees.
The staff of the Doha-based TV network were accused of passing documents related to Egyptian national security to Qatar and Al Jazeera during the rule of former president Mohammed Morsi.
Saturday’s verdicts, which can be appealed, have reignited tensions between the two countries. Qatar was a major supporter of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group before he was overthrown by the military in July 2013. Egypt now considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said the verdicts lacked a “proper sense of justice” and did not help in consolidating ties between the two countries, according to a statement on Qatar’s state news agency.
“The verdict is unfounded, goes against truth and contains misleading claims,” said Ahmed Al Rumaihi, who heads the information office at the foreign ministry. He said the charge of espionage involving Qatar is both “surprising and unacceptable”.
Egypt’s foreign ministry fired back, saying the country’s judiciary was independent and professional.
Relations between Cairo and Doha have been fraught with tension since 2013 when the Egyptian army ousted Morsi, after vast protests against his rule.
Egypt claims that Qatar endangers its national security by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which has also been declared a terrorist group by other Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Cairo also accuses the Doha-based Al Jazeera network of bias in favour of the Brotherhood.
The case in which verdicts were given on Saturday involved a total of 11 defendants, of whom seven – including Morsi – are in custody.
Morsi and two of his aides were sentenced to 25 years in prison for membership in the Brotherhood but were acquitted of espionage, a capital offence.
The former president and his secretary, Amin El Sirafy, each received an additional 15-year sentence for leaking official documents. El Sirafy’s daughter, Karima, was also sentenced to 15 years on the same charge.
Morsi has already been sentenced to death. That death sentence and another two – life and 20 years in prison – are under appeal.
Former Al Jazeera news producer Alaa Omar Mohammed and former director of news Ibrahim Mohammed Hilal were sentenced to death in absentia along with Asmaa Al Khateib, who worked for Rasd, a media network widely suspected of links to the Brotherhood. Others sentenced to death include a documentary producer, an EgyptAir employee and an academic.
The verdicts drew widespread criticism from rights groups. Al Jazeera condemned the verdicts, saying they were part of a “ruthless” campaign against freedom of expression, and called on the international community to show solidarity with the journalists.
* Associated Press
