From CNN

After spending nearly six months behind bars in Egypt, three Al Jazeera journalists accused of spreading false news and conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood were found guilty by an Egyptian court.

Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy were sentenced to seven years in prison. Abdullah Baher Mohamed was handed down 10 years — seven for one charge, three for a second.

The trio, who were reporting in Cairo when they were detained last December, have steadfastly denied the charges, as has Al Jazeera.

The prosecution, which has argued channels like Al Jazeera brought down Iraq and were planning to do the same in Egypt, has been widely condemned by international correspondents, press organizations and foreign governments.

“On June 23, the entire world will be watching Egypt to see whether they uphold the values of press freedom,” Al Jazeera spokesman Osama Saeed said last week.

Amnesty International has asserted that Greste, Fahmy and Mohamed are pawns in a geopolitical dispute between Egypt and Qatar, the tiny Middle Eastern country that finances Al Jazeera. Qatar has long been perceived as a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political group banned in Egypt and labeled a terrorist organization after President Mohamed Morsy’s ouster last year.

That declaration came just days before the Al Jazeera journalists were arrested at the Cairo hotel where they were working. Egyptian state-run media said they were charged with “broadcasting false information” to harm the country’s national security and being members of an illegal organization, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read more at CNN