Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been sentenced to at least three years' jail at a retrial in a Cairo court.

Key points: Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed sentenced to at least three years' jail

Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed sentenced to at least three years' jail Trio charged with supporting banned Muslim Brotherhood

Trio charged with supporting banned Muslim Brotherhood Case was "heavily politicised"

Case was "heavily politicised" Relations between Egypt and Qatar remain tense

Greste and Fahmy were given prison sentences of three years, while Mohamed received an extra six months for possessing a single bullet.

"Whatever the consequences, the fact is that this is a judgment that is not based on evidence," Greste told Al Jazeera shortly after the verdict was handed down.

"Anyone who watched the trial, and we had many people broadcasting or reporting on the trial ... none saw any evidence to substantiate the allegations.

"So we need also to call on international pressure, on governments and diplomats around the world, to make it clear to Egypt that it cannot make these kinds of judgments.

"The fact is this is wrong, this is unjust, this is unethical, this is immoral on so many levels [and] it cannot be allowed to stand.

"It cannot be allowed to get away with this."

The trio were charged with supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood and operating in Egypt without a licence.

Greste will avoid imprisonment as he was deported to Australia in February and was being tried in absentia, but Fahmy and Mohamed were immediately taken back into police custody after the verdict was given.

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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement she "was dismayed" by the court sentence.

"I have spoken to Mr Greste today and reaffirmed that I will continue to pursue all diplomatic avenues with my Egyptian counterpart to clear his name."

Greste's mother Lois said the family was devastated with the outcome.

"We know in our heads not to expect anything from Egypt ... that has been our previous experience [but] in our hearts we had hoped that Egypt would do the right thing, and right the injustice that was done last year," she said.

"We are not only devastated for Peter but we are also devastated for Baher and Famy, Baher particularly who has three very small children.

"It is just so sad and so wrong all they were doing was doing their jobs."

Al Jazeera's acting director-general, Dr Mostefa Souag, said the verdict defied logic and common sense.

"Our colleagues Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy will now have to return to prison, and Peter Greste is sentenced in absentia," a statement said.

"The whole case has been heavily politicised and has not been conducted in a free and fair manner.

"There is no evidence proving that our colleagues in any way fabricated news or aided and abetted terrorist organisations and at no point during the long drawn-out retrial did any of the unfounded allegations stand up to scrutiny."

Al Jazeera television journalists Mohammed Fahmy (C) and Baher Mohamed (L), talk to the media before hearing the verdict. ( Reuters: Asmaa Waguih )

Fahmy's wife, Marwa Omara, told reporters outside she never expected her husband would receive a sentence.

"All that I can ask for now is for all his colleagues to stand by him and to keep calling for his release because this is extremely unfair," she said.

"Everybody knows that this is a political trial and Mohammed is innocent."

Canada said it was disappointed by Fahmy's sentence and called for his "immediate" return.

"The government of Canada continues to call on the Egyptian government to use all tools at its disposal to resolve Mr Fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to Canada," it said in a statement.

Fahmy and Greste were arrested in December 2013, six months after the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

When they were first sentenced in June last year, Greste and Fahmy received seven years' prison, while Mohamed received 10 years.

Their retrial was ordered after an appeals court overturned the initial sentence, saying the prosecution had presented scant evidence against them.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar remain tense with Cairo accusing Doha of supporting the Brotherhood.

The trial has become an embarrassment for Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the then army chief who ousted Morsi from the presidency in 2013.

The sentences are "an affront to justice that sound the death knell for freedom of expression in Egypt", Amnesty International said in a statement.

Washington and the United Nations had called for the journalists' release, and their trial was seen as damaging to the country's international standing.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 18 reporters are currently imprisoned in Egypt.

Mr Al-Sisi has said he wished the Al Jazeera journalists had not been put on trial. He may pardon them if he chooses.

Fahmy, who gave up his Egyptian citizenship in hopes of being deported as Greste was in February, had said he looked forward to finally seeing justice and winning an acquittal on the eve of the trial.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists at least 18 journalists, many accused of being part of the Muslim Brotherhood, are behind bars in Egypt.