CAIRO: An Egyptian court that jailed three Aljazeera journalists for alleged ties with Islamists yesterday said “the devil guided” them to spread false news defaming the country.
Australian journalist Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed were convicted in June of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false news that portrayed Egypt as being in a state of “civil war.”
Greste and Fahmy received seven years, while Mohamed was jailed for 10, in a case that sparked international outrage.
Eleven defendants tried in absentia, including one Dutch and two British journalists, were given 10 years.
“The defendants took advantage of the noble profession of journalism... and turned it from a profession aimed at looking for the truth to a profession aimed at falsifying the truth,” the court said in a statement explaining its verdict.
“The devil guided them to use journalism and direct it towards activities against this nation,” it added. AFP
