Greste, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed were sentenced for broadcasting “false” news that harmed Egypt in a retrial on Saturday, with the shock ruling by the Cairo court drawing global criticism.
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They were also accused of operating without a press license. The third defendant, Australian Peter Greste, was deported in February and sentenced in absentia.
Al-Jazeera’s head of litigation, Farah Muftah, said in Doha the ruling would be appealed once the judge publishes the basis for his sentencings.
The State Department said the verdict undermined freedom of expression, Reports DW.
Authorities arrested the trio, later charging them with allegedly being part of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities have declared a terrorist organisation, and airing falsified footage meant to damage national security.
“The verdict today sends a very risky message in Egypt”, Clooney told reporters after the verdict.
Initially, Greste and Fahmy received seven years behind bars, while Mohamed was given 10 years.
In a joint statement, Labor leader Bill Shorten and opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said the sentence was “unjust” and that “journalists shouldn’t be put on trial or locked up for doing their job anywhere in the world”.
Greste will avoid the jail time but his two colleagues were immediately taken back into police custody, without the chance to say goodbye to their devastated families.
Al Jazeera Media Network’s Acting Director General Dr Mostefa Souag said, “Today’s verdict is yet another deliberate attack on press freedom”. Greste returned to Australia and Mohamed and Fahmy had been free on bail in Egypt. Officials said they will seek to extradite Greste. There is no evidence the journalists fabricated news or aided terrorists, he said.
Egypt has summoned British ambassador to Cairo John Casson following his comments on the sentencing of three Al- Jazeera journalists for supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Three Al-Jazeera journalists were on Saturday sentenced to three years in prison by an Egyptian court for spreading false news and endangering national security, in a case that has triggered an global outcry.
Al-Jazeera and the journalists denied the allegations, saying they were simply reporting the news.
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Their lawyers are expected to appeal.
