THE Egyptian regime that has just jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste for seven years receives millions of dollars in Australian aid.

Foreign aid worth $37.5 million has flowed to Egypt from Australia since 2008.

As Greste’s shocked parents vowed to continue fighting for their son’s release, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop decried the Cairo verdict as a result of a “politically motivated situation”.

And Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would pursue a pardon from Egypt’s new leader, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former military chief.

The US also slammed the sentence. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama had called for Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues to be released immediately.

Juris and Lois Greste said their son, a respected and experienced journalist, was “not a criminal” but had simply been doing his job reporting on the Egyptian political crisis.

“We are not usually a family of superlatives, but I have to say this morning my vocabulary fails to convey just how shattered we are,” Mr Greste said from Brisbane.

media_camera UK journalists in a one-minute silent protest outside New Broadcasting House against the seven-year jail terms given to three Al Jazeera journalists.

He said the verdict was “a slap in the face and a kick in the groin to Australia, as well as all fair-minded people around the world”.

“You can never prepare yourself for something as painful as this,” Mr Greste said.

“We are absolutely determined and committed to continue this battle until Peter, as well as his colleagues, are all out of prison and free to do and go wherever they decide.”

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Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy, the network’s acting Cairo bureau chief, and producer Baher Mohammed, an Egyptian, were jailed for the crime of “spreading false news” and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

But Ms Bishop said the complete lack of evidence presented at the trial rendered the verdicts and harsh sentences a nonsense.

“It was a politically motivated situation in the first place, when the military were taking over from the Brotherhood, and Peter Greste got caught up in reporting on that particular political scenario,” she told Sky News.

“The reasons for the decision haven’t yet been published but will be given in due course to Peter Greste’s lawyers, and we will have a much closer look at how or why this verdict was reached.

“There have been 13 hearings and yet the evidence has been so scant — we just can’t understand it,” she said.

“We are deeply dismayed a sentence has been imposed and we are appalled by the severity of it,” Ms Bishop said.

“Peter Greste is a well-respected Australian journalist. He was not there to support the Muslim Brotherhood.”

media_camera Juris Greste comforts his wife, Lois, during a press conference about the sentencing of their son, Australian Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste.

An emotional Mrs Greste broke down on Tuesday, saying her son would fight through the dark days ahead, as he had since his jailing in December.

“I know Peter as being very, very strong. This will be a hard time for him but I know that he’ll get through it and my Mike and Andrew are going in today and they’ll support him and he’ll be OK.”

The Greens called for sanctions to be imposed on Egypt.

Australia last year exported $469 million of wheat, vegetables, copper and wool to Egypt and bought $26 million worth of imports, mainly carpets, clothes and fertiliser.

But Mr Abbott, who said he had spoken to Mr al-Sisi over the weekend, insisted diplomatic channels, rather than “megaphone diplomacy”, offered the best hope.

He said he hoped the President would intervene and either overturn the verdict or free Greste and his co-workers.

“We’re obviously shocked, dismayed, really bewildered by the decision of the court.

“My understanding is that the Egyptian court system does work at arm’s length from the Government,” the PM said.

“But I do understand that once the court system has done its work then there are options for presidential acts, presidential clemency, presidential pardons and so on.

“And that’s why I’m not in the business of being critical of the Government as such,” Mr Abbott said.

mark.dunn@news.com.au