CAIRO— An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in prison on charges of broadcasting without a license and “spreading false news.”
The verdict came after an appeals court granted the reporters a retrial earlier this year. The journalists — Mohamed Fahmy , Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste — were first convicted of aiding a terrorist organization in April 2014. Greste was sentenced in absentia, after authorities deported him to Australia in February.
Rights groups have denounced the charges as politically motivated. Egypt has tightened restrictions on the press since a military coup ousted Muslim Brotherhood leader and Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Authorities accused the Al Jazeera network, owned by Qatar, a Brotherhood ally, of backing the Islamists.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-court-sentences-three-al-jazeera-journalists-to-three-years-in-prison/2015/08/29/a3165902-4e29-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html
