Updated

The brother of an imprisoned Al-Jazeera reporter says a Cairo court has set the appeals hearing for three staffers of the Qatar-based broadcaster convicted in Egypt.

Adel Fahmy, the brother of Mohammed Fahmy, Cairo acting bureau chief for Al-Jazeera English, says the scheduled court date is Jan. 1, 2015.

He says it's further away than the family had hoped for but the mere fact that it has been scheduled is a relief.

The three journalists — Egyptian-Canadian Fahmy, Australian correspondent Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed — were convicted last June on charges linked to aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government has declared a terrorist organization.

Mohammed faces 10 years in prison while his two colleagues got seven years each. Their sentences have been condemned world over.