Al-Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste, producer Baher Mohamed and acting Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy listened to the verdict from inside the defendants’ cage on Monday.
IMAGE: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
They had pleaded innocent, saying they were simply doing their jobs as journalists. But they were charged with supporting the Brotherhood, which has been declared a terrorist organization, and of fabricating footage to undermine Egypt’s national security and make it appear the country was facing civil war.
The three journalists appeared in court on March 31 dressed in white. From left: Al-Jazeera English producer Baher Mohamed, acting Cairo bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy and correspondent Peter Greste.
The prosecution provided little evidence in the case, showing video footage found in their possession — most of which had nothing to do with the case, including a report on a veterinary hospital in Cairo, Christian life and old footage of Greste from previous assignments elsewhere in Africa.
“I swear they will pay for this,” Fahmy, who was Al-Jazeera English’s acting Cairo bureau chief, shouted angrily from the defendants’ cage after the sentences were announced in the Cairo court Monday. Greste, a correspondent, raised his fists in the air.
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