An Egyptian court sentenced three al Jazeera journalists – including Australian Peter Greste – to seven years in prison each on charges of defaming Egypt by spreading false news reports that supported the banned Muslim Brotherhood.  International indignation and condemnation were swift.

Amnesty International says the prosecutors presented absolutely no evidence to back up the charges against Greste, Canadian-Egyptian bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed.

“The only reason these three men are in jail is because the Egyptian authorities don’t like what they have to say,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.  “They are prisoners of conscience and must be immediately and unconditionally released.  In Egypt today anyone who dares to challenge the state’s narrative is considered a legitimate target.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has summoned the senior Egyptian diplomat in Australia, and said that Canberra “will now initiate contact at the highest levels in the new Egyptian government to see whether we can gain some kind of intervention from the new government”.

The US, which yesterday announced it was resuming military and economic aid to Egypt, condemned the verdict.

“We call on the Egyptian government to pardon these individuals or commute their sentences so that they can be released immediately and grant clemency for all politically motivated sentences, starting with the other defendants in this trial,” said the new White House spokesman Josh Earnest.