A Cairo court has set an appeals hearing for Australian journalist Peter Greste and two of his Al Jazeera coworkers, convicted of terrorism-related charges and jailed for doing their jobs and reporting on the tumult in Egypt that followed the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi.

The hearing is scheduled for 1 January, 2015, according to Al Jazeera’s acting Cairo bureau chief Adel Fahmy, the brother of Mohammed Fahmy who was sentenced to seven years in prison.  Peter Greste got seven years as well, and their producer Baher Mohammed was sentenced to ten years. 

Egypt's court of cassation will examine the Greste appeal, and could order a retrial or reject the appeal.  The families had been hoping that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi would issue a parson, but the president said that couldn’t happen until after the courts issue their final verdicts.

International human rights attorney Amal Clooney has joined Mohammend Fahmy’s defense.  She says, “It is ironic that the main charge against the Al Jazeera journalists is that they sought to tarnish Egypt's image – there is little that could tarnish it more than allowing such injustices to persist .”