Britain’s ambassador to Egypt John Casson has been summoned by the Egyptian foreign ministry, after accusing him of interference due to comments made on the sentencing three Al-Jazeera journalists.
An Egyptian court had found the three journalists, Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste, guilty of “spreading false news” and sentenced to three years imprisonment – a ruling that has been widely criticised by human rights and press freedom groups.
Speaking in Arabic outside the court, Mr Casson said the court's decision would "undermine confidence in Egypt's stability".
Egypt's foreign ministry said his words were "unacceptable intervention in Egyptian judicial rulings” and had summoned him “to express its strong objection” to his comments.
“Egypt does not need lessons from anyone,” the foreign ministry statement added.
Lawyers for the journalist are expected to appeal.
See our earlier post:
Egypt jails Al Jazeera journalists for three years (29 Aug 2015)
