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Cairo court has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in
jail after finding them guilty of “aiding a terrorist organisation”.
Egyptian Baher Mohamed, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Australian Peter
Greste were all handed three year jail sentences when the
court delivered the verdict on Saturday, sparking worldwide outrage.
Mohamed was sentenced to an additional six months for possession of a spent bullet casing.
The journalists had been initially found guilty in June 2014 of
aiding a “terrorist organisation”, a reference to the Muslim
Brotherhood, which was outlawed in Egypt after the army overthrew
President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Judge Hassan Farid, in his ruling on Saturday, said he sentenced the
men to prison at least partly because they had not registered with the
country’s journalist “syndicate”.
He also said the men brought in equipment without security officials’
approval, had broadcast “false news” on Al Jazeera and used a hotel as a
broadcasting point without permission.
The verdict was immediately condemned by Al Jazeera Media Network’s Acting Director General, Dr Mostefa Souag.
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Souag said, “
Today’s verdict defies logic and common sense.
Our colleagues, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy, will now have to
return to prison, and Peter Greste is sentenced in absentia.
