An Egyptian court on Monday convicted three journalists from Al-Jazeera English, including an Egyptian-Canadian, and sentenced them to seven years in prison each on terrorism-related charges in a case that has brought an outcry from human rights groups.
The sentences were handed down against Egyptian-Canadian acting Cairo bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, Australian correspondent Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed, who also received an extra three years in prison on separate charges.
Fahmy's lawyer Shaaban Saeed told CBC's Derek Stoffel today that the guilty verdict will be appealed.
"I swear they will pay for this," Fahmy shouted angrily from the defendants' cage after the sentences were announced.
Greste raised his fists in the air.
"They just ruined a family," said Fahmy's brother Adel, who was attending the session. He said they would appeal the verdict but added that he had little faith in the system. "Everything is corrupt," he said.
As Adel left the court, he could be heard saying, "This is a harsh verdict."
The judge also handed 10-year sentences to two British journalists and a Dutch journalist who were not in Egypt and being tried in absentia.
Trial had 'shortcomings'
Two defendants among 14 others on trial in the case were acquitted, including the son of Mohammed el-Beltagy, a senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood.
Speaking with CBC host Heather Hiscox later, Adel Fahmy said, "It's corrupt judicial system, and this whole case has been fabricated to serve the agenda of Egypt."
He added:
"The Foreign Affairs minister and the Canadian embassy have done a great job. I have to admit that. We give credit where it is due. But I don't know. There should have been a higher-up pressure. There should have been more urgent pressure. Maybe they reacted too late … and the problem is now that this is the result, and I don't know how it can be resolved or reversed."
Greste, Fahmy and Mohammed were arrested in December in a raid on the Cairo hotel room they were using as an office, as part of a sweeping crackdown on Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
They were accused of supporting Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which the authorities have declared a terrorist organization.
They also face charges of fabricating footage to undermine Egypt's national security and make it appear the country was facing civil war. The prosecution has offered little evidence to back up the charges against them.
The three and their supporters have said they were simply doing their jobs as journalists, covering the wave of protests led by the Brotherhood against the military-backed government installed after Morsi's ousted on July 3 by then-army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is now the president.
The police crackdown on the protests has killed hundreds and put thousands more in prison.
Canada's ambassador to Egypt, David Drake, told CBC News he was "very disappointed" and he "does not understand" the verdict.
"The defence council did an excellent job in clearly establishing that there is no incriminating evidence with regard to the charges, and that there were multiple procedural shortcomings regarding the trial itself."
The other defendants were mainly students, arrested separately, accused of providing the Al-Jazeera journalists with footage along with a variety of other charges, including belonging to the Brotherhood.
British Ambassador James Watt also said he was disappointed, adding, "Freedom of expression is fundamental to any democracy."
'Defies logic, sense'
The managing director of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera English, Al Anstey, said in a statement that "not a shred of evidence was found to support the extraordinary and false charges against them."
"To have detained them for 177 days is an outrage. To have sentenced them defies logic, sense, and any semblance of justice," he said.
Fahmy, who covered stories for the New York Times and CNN before working for Al-Jazeera, was the most outspoken over the course of his trial.
His family, who moved to Canada in 1991, also railed against the prosecution, saying it was clear that the charges against the journalists were "ridiculous."
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has met with Fahmy's family and told them he discussed Fahmy's case with his Egyptian counterpart. Canadian officials had warned the family, however, that the journalist's dual citizenship placed limits on how much they could do.
On Sunday, visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he discussed Al-Jazeera trial with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi. Kerry said el-Sisi promised a reevaluation of rights restrictive legislation and a reevaluation of the judicial process. He didn't elaborate.
El-Sisi has the power to commute the sentence or pardon the three — but only after appeals are finished, a process that could take months. The three would remain in prison throughout the appeals, unless they win a separate "suspension of verdict" ruling.
An appeal can grant them a retrial, but only if flaws in the court proceedings are found.
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