The family of jailed Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy says that news of a retrial date set for next week is their "worst nightmare."
Fahmy, who has been detained for more than a year in a Cairo jail, is scheduled to appear in Egyptian court on Feb. 12, CTV News' Daniele Hamamdjian reported Sunday from Cairo.
The development comes after Canada's outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said last week that Fahmy's release was "imminent."
Fahmy's brother Adel told CTV’s News Channel on Sunday that until Saturday, his family was assured that his brother would be released soon.
"We are very upset about how the Canadian government has dealt with this case from Day One," Adel said.
"Just till yesterday, they were telling us, 'Do not worry, we have confirmations from the highest source that he will be released and deported in the coming days.'"
In a statement earlier Sunday, Fahmy's family said they are disappointed by the Canadian government's “conservative approach” in the handling of the case.
"The trial date on Feb. 12th represents our worst nightmare, to have to go through another circus of a retrial," the family said.
Fahmy -- who is Al Jazeera English's Cairo bureau chief -- has languished in a Cairo jail since he was arrested along with two fellow Al-Jazeera journalists in December 2013.
A retrial was ordered by an appeals court at the beginning of January, but Egyptian authorities had given assurances to Fahmy's family that he would be deported before a retrial began.
Fahmy and his colleagues Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohammed were sentenced to lengthy prison terms at a trial in June for allegedly aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has been labelled a terrorist organization by the ruling Egyptian party.
Fahmy and Mohammed remain in jail and are both slated for a retrial, set to start Thursday.
Greste was recently released, and was deported earlier this week.
Fahmy's family said they and their supporters are "shocked" that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not intervened, particularly in light of Australia's success in freeing Greste.
"He has failed us immensely," they said.
Fahmy recently surrendered his Egyptian citizenship, making him only a Canadian citizen. His family said the move was part of a "deal" with Egyptian authorities that was supposed to be Fahmy's "only way out" of the country.
Sue Turton, a senior correspondent for Al Jazeera English, told CTV’s News Channel that she believed until Sunday morning that the deal would see Fahmy returned to Canada.
"To be honest, we're thoroughly disappointed,” she said. “We really had been relying on this agreement."
Turton says it is possible that the decision to drop Fahmy's Egyptian citizenship may have "backfired."
"It almost looks like the Egyptians said, 'You have to drop your citizenship,' and now it seems to be the one sticking point that has stopped him from being released," she said.
While Turton still hopes that her colleague will be released in the three days before the trial, she said Fahmy has "given up."
"He believes that now that this trial date has been set, he is now in what he terms is 'Egyptian jurisdiction,'" she said.
Turton added: "He (believes he is) is now part of that whole process, and he doesn’t think it can still happen.”
On Sunday, Lynne Yelich, Canada's minister of state for foreign affairs, said Canada is "deeply concerned" about the announcement of the re-trial.
"Canada calls for the immediate release of Mr. Fahmy," the statement read. "I have, along with former Minister Baird, continued to raise this government's concerns regarding Mr. Fahmy's case with senior Egyptian officials and I will continue to do so.
"We remain hopeful that Mr. Fahmy's case will be resolved in a timely manner."
Fahmy will have the option to seek bail when the retrial begins, but bail conditions could prevent him from leaving Egypt.
Fahmy's family also accused Egypt's general prosecutor of "complicating" his release.
"We are now doing the leg work ourselves as a family," they said in the statement.
That legwork will include a visit from Amal Clooney, a high-profile lawyer from the British firm in charge of Fahmy's case. Clooney sent a letter to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi on Saturday, requesting an in-person meeting to discuss the case.
Full statement from the Fahmy family below:
"Mohamed never requested that he drops his citizenship. The authorities visited him before the appeal hearing on January 1st. and made a deal with him to renounce it in return for his freedom claiming this was the only way out for him and Peter. It was one of the most difficult decisions he has ever taken that has left him demoralised.
Now, the general prosecutor is complicating matters even though both the presidency and the prime minister have expressed their desire to let him go as soon as possible
Yes, we are worried and we have been let down by the Canadian government's conservative approach in the handling of the case. That is also the feeling of the Egyptian officials and public figures sympathising with us who are shocked that the Canadian prime minister had not intervened yet to expedite matters while the Australian most senior official has done an outstanding job in the release of his colleague Peter Greste. Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, CJFE, Canadian media, and Fahmy and his lawyers have all called openly and privately on prime minister Harper to take a stand but he has failed us immensely. We are now doing the leg work ourselves as a family knocking the doors of the prosecutor, foreign ministry and presidency. Amal Clooney our lawyer is well respected here in the Egyptian diplomatic community and will be arriving to Cairo soon.
She had planned to fly from LA to Toronto to meet Fahmy upon his release but she hopes they can fly together out of Cairo toward freedom. The trial date on Feb 12th represents our worst nightmare, to have to go through another circus of a retrial."
