Three al-Jazeera journalists convicted in Egypt of “spreading false news” have been sentenced to three years in prison at their retrial in Cairo.

BBC reports that Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were in court to hear the verdict.

Australian Peter Greste was deported to Australia earlier this year and was on trial again in absentia.

They were accused of aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood group but they strenuously deny the allegations.

The three journalists were originally sentenced in July 2014, with Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy receiving seven years and Mr Mohamed getting 10 years.

But their convictions were overturned in January this year and they were freed in February to await retrial.

The judge on Saturday said the three men were not registered journalists and had been operating from a Cairo hotel without a licence.

He handed three-year sentences to Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy but gave Mr Mohamed an additional six months.

In a statement, al-Jazeera said it was “yet another deliberate attack on press freedom”.

“It is a dark day for the Egyptian judiciary; rather than defend liberties and a free and fair media, they have compromised their independence for political reasons,” it added.
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