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Al-Jazeera journalists' trial: Three reporters convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison by Egyptian court Al-Jazeera journalists' trial: Three reporters convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison by Egyptian court
(about 2 hours later)
Three journalists for the English-language Al-Jazeera news organisation have been convicted on terror charges in an Egyptian court and each sentenced to seven years in prison.Three journalists for the English-language Al-Jazeera news organisation have been convicted on terror charges in an Egyptian court and each sentenced to seven years in prison.
Australia's Peter Greste, the Canadian-Egyptian acting Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy and the Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed, were arrested in December during a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Australia's Peter Greste, the Canadian-Egyptian acting Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed were arrested in December during a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
The journalists said they were reporting on the situation in Cairo at the time, covering the protests of those still supporting the ousted President Mohammed Morsi. The journalists said they were reporting on the situation in Cairo at the time, covering protests held by those still supporting the ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
They have received widespread international support under the social media banners #FreeAJStaff and “journalism is not a crime”, but were today jailed after prosecutors claimed they had been helping so-called “terrorists”. Mohammed was sentenced to three extra years in prison on separate charges. But prosecutors said they helped the "terrorist organisation" and damaged the national interest by publishing lies and providing equipment and information to 17 Egyptian activists.
Earlier on Monday the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had issued a last-ditch plea to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi that his countryman Greste was innocent of the charges. The Egyptian court now faces accusations that its decision was politically motivated, after the three defendants arrived confident of their innocence today and left with a decision described as "devastating" by their families.
Abbott, a former journalist, said he raised Greste's case in a conversation with the newly appointed Egyptian leader on the weekend. After Greste and Fahmy had received their sentences - and Mohammed was given an additional three years on a separate charge involving possession of ammunition - 15 of the remaining 17 defendants were convicted of being members of the Brotherhood, and given jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years.
“I did make the point that as an Australian journalist, Peter Greste, would not have been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, he would have simply been reporting on the Muslim Brotherhood,” Abbott told reporters. Greste's family had earlier told reporters they were confident that the Australian correspondent would be acquitted of the charges. Throughout the trial the judge was reportedly showed photographs of Greste's family holidays, a Sky Arabia report on animal cruelty and footage of a Nairobi press conference - "evidence" which was described as having nothing to do with the serious charges brought.
“The point I made was that in the long run, a free and vigorous media are good for democracy, good for security, (and) good for stability,” he said. A Nairobi-based foreign correspondent posing with a placard to protest against imprisonment of Al-Jazeera journalists Peter Greste and his colleagues in Egypt, outside the Egyptian embassy in Kenya (EPA) In a statement issued by Al-Jazeera, the men's employer said the verdict "defies logic, sense and any semblance of justice".
But Abbott said then that Greste's fate remained in the hands of the court. Giving their reaction to the verdicts on a Facebook page campaigning for Greste's release, his family said: "We are so devastated!!!! Peter has received 7 years. This is not the end. Please make noise, this is unjust and a slap in the face for freedom of speech and media."
“In the end, it is up to the Egyptian justice system to do its job,” Abbott said. The trial has been roundly criticised by a host of world powers, and today Britain's ambassador to Egypt, Hames Watt, said: "This is a deeply disappointing result. The Egyptian people have expressed over the past three years their wish for Egypt to be a democracy. Without freedom of the press there is no foundation for democracy."
“I did my best to put it to the president that as an Australian journalist, Peter Greste would not have been taking sides. He would have simply been reporting on the events that he saw before him. He certainly would have had no interest in promoting the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said. Australia's ambassador Ralph King also said his president and prime minister would make their disappointment clear, after Tony Abbott earlier said he had issued a last-ditch plea to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi that his Greste was innocent of the charges.
Greste and his colleagues had pleaded not guilty to the charges that they provided a platform for the Brotherhood and for Morsi. Then, Abbott said: "I did my best to put it to the president that as an Australian journalist, Peter Greste would not have been taking sides. He would have simply been reporting on the events that he saw before him. He certainly would have had no interest in promoting the Muslim Brotherhood."
International observers have accused the Egyptian government of allowing the journalists to get caught up in the political row between it and Qatar, which funds Al-Jazeera.
Relations between the two countries have been extremely strained since Sisi's military ousted the Muslim leader Morsi last year. Al-Jazeera's Cairo bureau has been closed since they were raided by security forces at the time.
One of the defence lawyers, Shaaban Saeed, said there had been no respect for due process during the trial.
"We were expecting innocence but there is no justice in this country. Politics is what judges," Saeed said.
Greste and his colleagues had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and are expected to appeal today's verdicts.