Al Jazeera on trial: the final session
Mohamed, Fahmy and Greste in court. Picture tweeted by Patrick Kingsley
Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of Al Jazeera English were today sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by the court at Tora prison in Cairo. Below is a compilation of live tweets from the courtroom.
To follow international on Twitter, use the hashtags #ajtrial and #freeAJstaff. For background to the case, see Patrick Kingsley's Guardian prelim from this morning here and his report on today's hearing here 
The reaction(The Dutch journalist Rena Netjes was jailed for ten years in absentia)
(Greste is Australian, Julie Bishop the Australian foreign minister)
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Al Jazeera on trial
Peter Greste
Mohamed Fahmy Baher Mohamed 177 DAYS IN CAIRO JAIL FOUND GUILTY SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS 
When the journalist becomes the story rather than reporting it, you ask yourself why this happened and who is responsible for detaining you in the terrorism wing of Egypt’s most notorious prison.
To silence me and my colleagues on the pretext that we are a threat to national security and members of a terrorist organization is a sheer insult to the intelligence of Egyptian people and the democracy promoted in the newly ratified constitution - Mohamed Fahmy, May 2 
I have no particular fight with the Egyptian government, just as I have no interest in supporting the Muslim Brotherhood or any other group here. But as a journalist I am committed to defending a fundamental freedom of the press that no one in my profession can credibly work without."
- Peter Greste prison blog, January 25 
Journalists are not just reporting the news. We are truth-seekers. Imagine for a moment what would happen if we stopped working with courage, if we abandoned our integrity, gave up on independence and freedom.
It would leave the world a far more ignorant place with dictators free to take advantage and flourish - Baher Mohamed letter from jail, April 30 
The court hearings
plus Storify and video Peter Greste: the prison blogs, awards and background World Press Freedom Day: a message from Greste plus an award for Fahmy 
It's not easy; the constant fear for my husband, the unbearable thoughts of what may happen to him in a country where rulers have demonstrated they have no respect for human rights and no understanding of the basic principles of justice or rule of law. But I have a sense of pride that he is ready to sacrifice his life for freedom - not just for his own freedom but for the freedom of every journalist, for the sake of truth.
I am proud that there is a human being willing to sacrifice that which is most precious to him, so that the hope of a free press and freedom of speech remains - and especially that this man is my husband. - Gehad Khaled, Al Jazeera, April 30, 2014 |
The verdicts
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The wait....
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