Al-Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed in court in Cairo (Photo: Reuters)
A Cairo court has set 23 June for when it will announce a verdict in the trial of Al Jazeera English reporters accused of fabricating news reports and aiding the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
During Monday's session – the trial's 13th – Shaaban Saeed, defense lawyer of four of the defendants, claimed that his clients were subjected to torture in detention and demanded that they be examined by forensic authorities.
Security forces arrested Al Jazeera English staff members Mohamed Fadel, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed along with other Egyptian journalists last December on charges of fabricating news and joining a terrorist organisation, a reference to the Brotherhood, which was deemed a terrorist group in the same month by interim authorities.
Security forces shut down Al Jazeera's Cairo offices following the army's overthrow of Morsi on 3 July 2013 on the back of mass protests against the Islamist president's one-year rule.
Authorities have accused the network's Egyptian channel of giving favourable coverage to Morsi's Brotherhood movement.
Among the defendants are also students, including the son of prominent Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagy.
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