An Egypt court today turned down a plea for bail by jailed Al-Jazeera journalists, who denied links with the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood in a trial that has sparked international condemnation.
The journalists, who have spent nearly 100 days in jail since their arrest, are charged with spreading false news and supporting the Islamist movement of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.
"Please, get us out of jail, we are tired. We've been suffering in prison," Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, the Egypt bureau chief of Al-Jazeera English, told the judges.
He and his seven co-defendants, dressed in white prison uniforms, were briefly allowed out of a caged dock to address the court.
Fahmy's lawyer, Khaled Abu Bakr, said that allowing defendants to leave the caged dock was "an unprecedented move in the history of Egypt's criminal courts".
The Al-Jazeera trial, in which 20 defendants stand accused, has sparked an international outcry and fuelled fears of a media crackdown by the military-installed authorities.
Australian reporter Peter Greste also pleased to be released on bail, telling the judges "we only desire at this point to continue to fight to clear our names outside prison".
"We would like to emphasise that we are more than willing to accept any conditions that you impose on us," he added.
Producer Baher Mohamed told the judges he wanted to be with his wife during her pregnancy.
"My wife is pregnant and she visits me in jail with the children. It is exhausting," Mohamed said.
"I want to be released on bail so I can be by her side," he added.
The judges adjourned the trial to April 10 without granting bail to any of the defendants.
Prosecutors insist that the Al-Jazeera journalists colluded with the Brotherhood, now designated a "terrorist" group, and falsely sought to portray Egypt in a state of "civil war".
Fahmy told judges he cannot be considered as a terrorist or a Brotherhood member as he is a "liberal man" who drinks alcohol.
