Retrial of 7 al-Jazeera defendants delayed to June 1

Cairo Criminal Court has adjourned until June 1 the retrial of seven defendants over charges of inciting violence and spreading false news about Egypt through the screen of "Al Jazeera English" satellite channel.

The court delayed the retrial Saturday to hear pleadings of the prosecution.

Today the court questioned the head of a technical committee formed to examine evidence, which included video recordings of a number of incidents that occurred during the Rabaa el Adaweya sit-in and several Muslim Brotherhood rallies.

The defendants are standing retrial after the Cassation Court annulled previous rulings convicting them of the charges and ordering a retrial.

Giza Criminal Court had found the defendants guilty of inciting violence and spreading false news.

In June 2014, Giza Criminal Court sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment each of 11 runaway defendants. The seven provisionally-held defendants got seven years rigorous imprisonment each.

Two other defendants were acquitted of charges.

An investigation by the prosecution had revealed that some of the defendants were members of the Muslim Brotherhood group who sought to depict a civil war in Egypt through false news they aired on Al Jazeera.