Peter Greste – convicted in absentia – Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed found guilty of operating without press licence and broadcasting material harmful to Egypt

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

An Egyptian judge sentenced three journalists to three years in prison on Saturday in connection with their work for al-Jazeera English in a verdict denounced by rights groups and news organisations as an assault on press freedom.

The ruling was the latest turn in a winding 20-month legal battle in which journalists Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste had already spent more than 400 days in prison.

The case has been a high-profile illustration of the erosion of media freedom in Egypt in the two years since the military removed the country’s elected Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, from power.

Peter Greste (@PeterGreste) Shocked. Outraged. Angry. Upset. None of them convey how I feel right now. 3 yr sentences for @bahrooz, @MFFahmy11 and me is so wrong.

“The verdict today sends a very dangerous message in Egypt,” said international lawyer Amal Clooney, speaking to reporters moments after the ruling. “It sends a message that journalists can be locked up for simply doing their job, for telling the truth and reporting the news. And it sends a dangerous message that there are judges in Egypt who will allow their courts to become instruments of political repression and propaganda.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Al-Jazeera says journalists’ sentence represents a ‘dark day for the Egyptian judiciary’.

In a courtroom at Cairo’s Tora prison, Judge Hassan Farid bellowed into a microphone as he read out the sentences, which came at the conclusion of a retrial. Farid said in his court’s view the men were not journalists, a reference to the fact that they were not registered with Egypt’s press syndicate – a step not required of foreign journalists.

The judge’s words triggered a chaotic reaction as reporters, foreign diplomats and distraught family members rushed to leave the building. Fahmy’s wife was visibly crying.

Fahmy and Mohamed were taken into custody from the metal and glass cage inside the courtroom where they watched Saturday’s proceedings.

Greste was convicted in absentia since he was deported to his home country of Australia in early February. Mohamed, an Egyptian citizen who worked as a producer for al-Jazeera English, was given an additional six months of jail time.

Greste said the sentencers were outrageous. “The prosecution presented no evidence that we did anything wrong and so for us to be convicted as terrorists on no evidence at all is frankly outrageous,” he told ABC television. “We have to keep fighting.”

While he had always feared there could be convictions for political reasons, Greste said this could have been done without additional time served, given the months already spent in prison.

The Australian said he believed he was unable to appeal because he could not appear in person in court in Egypt, but said he would be speaking with his lawyer about how to proceed. “We will pursue any other legal avenue we have.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Greste speaks about time in jail and plans for the future

The Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said on Saturday she was dismayed by the sentences. “This is a distressing outcome for Mr Greste, his family and supporters.”

The prison sentences were unexpected. Prior to Saturday’s hearing, Fahmy had expressed guarded optimism, articulated the possibility that he and his co-defendants could be cited for administrative violations but acquitted of the more serious charges. Fahmy, who had been the Cairo bureau chief for al-Jazeera English, is a Canadian citizen who hoped to return to Canada had he been acquitted.

During this year’s retrial, key elements of the prosecution’s case unraveled in Farid’s courtroom. In a reversal of the findings of the initial trial, a panel of experts ruled out the possibility that the journalists had broadcast fabricated news reports, a central claim made by prosecutors.

“I’m too shocked. My only hope is on deportation, because this is a joke of a trial. No process, nothing logical at all. Everything was pointing towards exoneration today,” said Fahmy’s brother Adel, standing outside the courtroom on Saturday.

The three men were originally arrested in December 2013 and charged with broadcasting false reports and colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now outlawed as a terrorist group in Egypt.

They were detained following a raid on a Marriott hotel in Cairo. Footage of security agents interrogating Fahmy and Greste during the raid was later broadcast on television. Egypt’s pro-government media labelled the three the “Marriott cell”.

Critics described the initial trial as Kafkaesque. As evidence, prosecutors played footage of a trotting horse from Sky News Arabia and a music video for the song Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye.

Despite of the peculiarities of the court proceedings, the three men were sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison in 2014. The verdict and sentences were widely denounced by foreign governments and news organisations.

Mohamed Fahmy hits out at al-Jazeera over its protection of journalists Read more

In December 2014 an appeals court ordered a retrial. After spending more than 400 days in prison, Greste was deported and Fahmy and Mohamed were released on bail in February.

Amnesty International called the guilty verdicts farcical and “an affront to justice that sound the death knell for freedom of expression in Egypt.”

Philip Luther, director for the Middle East and north Africa at Amnesty International, said in a statement on Saturday: “The charges against Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were always baseless and politicised, and they should never have been arrested and tried in the first place.”

Rights groups have documented a crackdown on media freedom in Egypt since Morsi’s overthrow in 2013. Following the military takeover, the state closed down some news organisations and arrested increasing numbers of journalists.

In June 2015, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists reported that at least 18 other media workers were in prison in Egypt, the highest number since the group began its count in 1990.

Fahmy has distanced himself from al-Jazeera, accusing the network of placing him and his colleagues in danger, lying about the channel’s legal status in Egypt and displaying editorial bias in favour of Islamists. He is suing the network for damages in a Canadian court.

Clooney, who represented Fahmy, said: “The Canadian ambassador and I are holding a series of meetings with Egyptian government officials where we’ll be seeking Mr Fahmy’s deportation to Canada and full pardon.”

“Today’s verdict is yet another deliberate attack on press freedom,” said al-Jazeera Media Network’s acting director general, Dr Mostefa Souag, in a statement. “It is a dark day for the Egyptian judiciary; rather than defend liberties and a free and fair media they have compromised their independence for political reasons.”