Three Al-Jazeera journalists have been sentenced to between seven and 10 years in prison each after being found guilty of tarnishing Egypt’s image, an Egyptian court ruled earlier today.
In what Amnesty International hailed as a dark day for media freedoms, the media personalities were among 20 defendants, including students, being tried in what has become popularly known as the Marriott Cell.
Two defendants, Anas Beltagy and Ahmad Turki, were acquitted but now face separate charges of possession.
Sentences passed down:
- Peter Greste (Al-Jazeera journalist): 7 years
- Mohamed Fahmy (Al-Jazeera journalist): 7 years
- Baher Mohamed (Al-Jazeera journalist): 10 years
- Shadi Ibrahim (student): 7 years
- Sohaib Saad (student): 7 years
- Khaled Sahloub (student): 7 years
- Khaled Abdulrahman (student): 7 years
- Sue Turton (journalist): 10 years (in absentia)
- Dominic Kane (journalist): 10 years (in absentia)
- Rena Netjes (journalist): 10 years (in absentia)
The verdict comes a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Egypt’s new President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi and announced his confidence that the US will fully restore the $650 million aid package to Egypt.
Kerry said: “The Apaches will come, and that they will come very, very soon.”
The same court is also presiding over Case 317, known as the Rabaa Operation Room, with US – Egyptian citizen Mohammad Soltan and other Rassd Journalists, charged with spreading rumours to damage Egypt’s reputation and conspire with foreign journalists. The verdict is expected today.
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