#FreeAJStaff: Al Jazeera launches global day of action to free jailed journalists

DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Al Jazeera has declared Thursday a global day of action to campaign for the release of its jailed news team that has been imprisoned by Egyptian authorities since late December.

Promoting the hash-tag, #FreeAJStaff, Al Jazeera hopes to garner worldwide "solidarity and support for journalists who have been detained, mistreated or stifled in Egypt."

The public is invited to participate in the campaign with Thunderclap or posting photos, like the one associated with this story, to Instagram and Twitter with the hash-tag #FreeAJStaff.

On this day of global action, Al Jazeera tweeted a photo of its staff taking a moment to recognize their imprisoned colleagues.

Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested on terrorism charges in December. The Egyptian police accused Al Jazeera English in Cairo of being a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood and using their broadcast location at the Marriott hotel as a meeting venue for Muslim Brotherhood members, an organization the Egyptian government has designated a terrorist group.

The journalists pleaded not guilty at an Egyptian court on February 20. The trial was adjourned until March 5.

[Al Jazeera]