Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt

After six months in detention and four on trial, two Al Jazeera English journalists have been sentenced to seven years in jail and one to 10 years by an Egyptian court on charges including aiding the Muslim Brotherhood and reporting false news.

The guilty verdicts were delivered by a judge against Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

Greste and Fahmy were sentenced to seven years in jail, while Baher Mohamed was sentenced to an additional three years for possession of ammunition. Mohamed was in posession of a spent bullet he had found on the ground during a protest.

The judge also handed 10-year sentences to British journalists Sue Turton and Dominic Kane and the Dutch journalist Rena Netjes, who were not in Egypt but being tried in absentia.

Two defendants among 14 others on trial in the case were acquitted, including the son of Mohammed el-Beltagy, a senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera English managing director Al Anstey said the verdicts defied "logic, sense, and any semblance of justice". 

"Today three colleagues and friends were sentenced, and will continue to be kept behind bars for doing a brilliant job of being great journalists.  'Guilty' of covering stories with great skill and integrity. 'Guilty' of defending people’s right to know what is going on in their world.  

The case has been portrayed by Egyptian media as a rightful attack on enemies of the state, as Al-Jazeera is seen in Egypt. But internationally the trial is seen as an affront to free speech – a point that American officials said the US secretary of state, John Kerry, stressed privately on a brief visit to Cairo on Sunday.