Egypt jails Al Jazeera journalists for three years

An Egyptian court has jailed three journalists with Al Jazeera for three years, for "spreading false news".
The three men were initially sentenced in July 2014 but their convictions were overturned and they were released in February this year.

One of the journalists, Australian citizen Peter Greste was subsequently deported back to his home country, but Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed remained in Egypt.

All three were tried again, with Mr Greste on trial in absentia.

Giving the verdict on Saturday, judge Hassan Farid said the three men were not registered journalists and had been operating from a Cairo hotel without a licence.

He handed three-year sentences to Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy but gave Mr Mohamed an additional six months.

Al- azeera said the verdict was "yet another deliberate attack on press freedom".

Outside the courtroom in Cairo, Mr Fahmy's lawyer, Amal Clooney, called on Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to issue a pardon to the journalists.

"The verdict today sends a very dangerous message in Egypt," she told reporters. "It sends a message that journalists can be locked up for simply doing their job, for telling the truth and reporting the news."

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