Three Al-Jazeera journalists who have been held in Egypt since December have been sentenced to seven years in jail, according to Ahram Online reporter at the courthouse.
The three defendants are Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed. They have been on trial along with 17 others on charges of "spreading false news," falsely portraying Egypt as being in a state of "civil war," as well as and aiding or joining the backlisted Brotherhood.
Journalist Baher Mohamed was handed an extra three-year term as well as an LE5000 fine, in addition to the seven-year sentence, for possessing ammunition.
Four other defendants have been sentenced to seven years in jail while two have been acquitted.
Only nine of the 20 defendants in the case are in custody.
The 11 co-defendants who are being tried in absentia received 10-year terms each.
Al Jazeera English website identified its other journalists being tried in absentia as: Alaa Bayoumi, Anas Abdel-Wahab Khalawi Hasan, Khaleel Aly Khaleel Bahnasy, Mohamed Fawzi, Dominic Kane and Sue Turton.
Greste and Fahmy were arrested on 29 December after a police raided their office in a Cairo hotel. Baher was taken in from his home on the same day.
