Al-Jazeera's Cario studio after it was set ablaze in November. Sixteen of its journalist are accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. Photograph: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters
Egyptian riot police block a photojournalist outside the offices of the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
Egypt’s rapid descent into chaos started when the military overthrew a democratically-elected government. And if that is not enough, the authorities levelled charges at twenty al-Jazeera journalists (that included two Britons, an Australian – former BBC correspondent Peter Greste – and a Dutch citizen) with damaging the country's reputation.
Egyptian prosecutors said the defendants aimed "to weaken the state's status, harming the national interest of the country, disturbing public security, instilling fear among the people, causing damage to the public interest, and possession of communication, filming, broadcast, video transmission without permit from the concerned authorities".
The other sixteen defendants are locals including al-Jazeera's Canadian-Egyptian bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, who has worked for CNN and the New York Times – and they were also accused of belonging to former president Mohamed Morsi's now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Except for those highlighted above, the identities of the other defendants, including the two Britons, are not stated, and some of them are understood to have been accused in absentia.
Al-Jazeera has received by far the fiercest criticism because its owner, Qatar, is considered sympathetic to the Brotherhood. The Egyptian government considered the broadcaster's Arabic-language stations to have been exceptionally biased in their reporting.
Conflicts between al-Jazeera and the Egyptian authorities after the Brotherhood's overthrow in July forced the broadcaster to shut the offices of its Arabic and English divisions, and its employees to operate without accreditation – one of several charges laid against the journalists on Wednesday.
Cairo itself has treated journalists from Al Jazeera roughly in the past year, raiding offices, detaining and deporting journalists and even apparently jamming the broadcaster’s satellite frequencies.
Rights advocates said the charges mark a serious escalation in the Egyptian state's campaign against foreign media. The government's supporters had alleged international news organizations are biased in their reporting of human rights abuses against Morsi supporters and secular dissenters – and accuse them of working in the Brotherhood's interests.
Sherif Mansour, Middle East director for the Committee for the Protection of Journalists however accused the government of “taking legitimate journalists' work and calling it terrorism".
Certainly, freedom of expression and journalism are under attack in Egypt.
And Britons should know
that their home-grown “war criminal”, i.e. Tony Blair had declared that the Egyptian
military eviction of the country's first democratically elected head of state
represents exciting progress for the Middle East, along with the violent
crackdowns and human rights abuses that have followed. He had conspired with George W Bush to set Iraq aflame and now he is excited that Egypt is embroiled in a bloody maelstrom! This is the man whom the British trusted but who failed them at every turn!
Kris Commons' goal against St Mirren in the sixth minute gave Celtic their 14th consecutive win, extending their Scottish Premiership lead to 21 points. We could have had more goals because we dominated but alas, we were luckless.
Also another Sunday game between Liverpool and West Brom that ended in a lacklustre 1-1 draw. Daniel Sturridge tapped in a Luis Suarez cross to put the Reds ahead in the 24th minute but Liverpool defender Kolo Toure gifted West Brom an equalizer when his poor pass found Baggies striker Victor Anichebe and he drilled in a low shot in the 67th minute.
It will be a real challenge for Liverpool to hold on to fourth position in the EPL.
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