Egypt jails Jazeera journalists for up to 10 years

An Egyptian court Monday sentenced three Al-Jazeera journalists including Australian Peter Greste to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years after accusing them of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
      
Greste and Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy each got seven years, while producer Baher Mohamed received two sentences -- one for seven years and another for three years.

Al-Jazeera slammed the desicion.
      
"We condemn... this kind of unjust verdict," the network's chief Mustafa Sawaq told the satellite news channel after a Cairo court jailed the three in a case that has caused international outrage.
      
"We are shocked," he said, charging that evidence provided by the prosecution "was not enough to jail someone for a single day".
      
Sawaq also said the journalists had been working openly with "nothing disguised" about their output which was broadcast openly on the Al-Jazeera English channel.

The three were among 20 defendants in a trial that has triggered international outrage amid fears of growing media restrictions in Egypt.
      
Eleven defendants who were tried in absentia, including three foreign journalists, were given 10-year sentences.
      
Of the six defendants in custody along with the three journalists, four were sentenced to seven years and two were acquitted.
      
Since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the authorities have been incensed by the Qatari network's coverage of their deadly crackdown on his supporters.
      
They consider Al-Jazeera to be the voice of Qatar, and accuse Doha of backing Morsi's Brotherhood, while the emirate openly denounces the repression...