Peter Greste in absentia and Mohamed Fahmy were sentenced to 3 years in prison, while their Egyptian colleague Baher Mohamed was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison Saturday morning for “reporting false news.”The verdict has been previously adjourned two times after the judge presiding in the case, Hassan Farid, reportedly has fallen sick and was absent the last hearing Aug. 2.
The three journalists, Canadian Fahmy, Egyptian Baher Mohamed and deported Australian Peter Greste are accused of broadcasting false news while working for Al Jazeera, joining the banned- Muslim Brotherhood group and operating from Egypt without license.
Fahmy tweeted hours before the last session saying that his attorney Amal Clooney would attend the hearing.
In June 2014, the three were sentenced to between seven and 10 years in prison; an appeal court abolished the sentence in January “due to lack of evidence” and ordered a retrial.
During the retrial, the journalists’ lawyers cited “shallow” evidence presented by the prosecution.
The journalists still have the right to a second appeal.
