Three Al Jazeera journalists have been sentenced to jail for seven years in Egypt on charges of aiding terrorism.
According to Sky News, Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian national Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed watched from cages as they were convicted of spreading false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.
Meanwhile, one of the journalists, Mohamed, was sentenced to an additional three years on charges of possession of weapons.
The verdict has provoked outrage from freedom of speech activists, who say that the conviction of the three journalists is purely a political move.
The White House in its statement condemned the sentencing of the journalists, saying that the case flouted the most basic standards of media freedom and represented a blow to democratic progress in Egypt because it amounted to the prosecution of journalists for reporting information that does not coincide with the government of Egypt's narrative.
The White House urged the Egyptian government to pardon the journalists or commute their sentences so that they can be released immediately.
British Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly said that he was completely appalled by the verdict
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop expressed her shock and dismay over the verdict and said that she would ask the Egyptian government to intervene.
