Three Al Jazeera journalists were handed harsh prison sentences on Monday morning in the Cairo Criminal Court based on accusations of aiding a terrorist group, tarnishing Egypt's image abroad, threatening national security, and "creating a terrorist media network". Of the 20 defendants on trial, the crux of the case rested on three Al Jazeera journalists: Cairo Bureau Chief Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, correspondent Peter Greste, and producer Baher Mohamed. Fahmy and Greste were each given seven years in maximum security prison, while Mohamed was given seven years, plus an extra three years for being in possession of a bullet. Fahmy and Greste were arrested on the evening of 29 December at the Zamalek Marriott, where they were using two suites as a base of operation after facing repeated raids, arrests and confiscation of equipment. Mohamed was arrest the same evening from his home in suburban Cairo. Other defendants in the case, who were tried in absentia, include two Al Jazeera journalists who have previously worked in Cairo—Britons Sue Turton and Dominic Kane—and several Al Jazeera support staff. Greste, who appeared at the trial, is an Australian citizen, and Fahmy holds duel Canadian-Egyptian citizenship. Several of the defendants in the trial were students, arrested on 2 January from an apartment in Moqattam. One of the accused is Anas Beltagy, son of Mohamed Beltagy, General Secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party. Anas Beltagy was acquitted. All eleven of the defendants tried in absentia were given 10 year prison sentences.
