*ABC Pic of: Peter Greste (centre) with fellow prisoners in the court cage
Australian journalist Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues have been found guilty by an Egypt court of spreading false news and supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
They have been sentenced to seven years in jail by a judge.
Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper was in court for the verdict and said there was look of despair on his brother Andrew Greste’s face.
Greste, along with his colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, had been in detention since their arrest in late December.
Prosecutors were demanding the maximum penalty of between 15 and 20 years in jail for Greste and his co-accused.
Greste and his colleagues are among a group of 20 journalists charged by the Egyptian government in a case that has triggered international outrage about press freedom in Egypt.
Of that group, 16 are Egyptians accused with joining the Brotherhood, which was designated a terrorist organisation in the wake of the army ousting elected president Mohamed Morsi last July.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott appealed to Egypt’s new president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to release Greste earlier today, saying the journalist was reporting on the Muslim Brotherhood not assisting them.
