Egypt's President Sisi 'will not interfere' in al Jazeera case
Egypt's president has said he will not "interfere" with the judiciary over the sentencing of al Jazeera journalists in Cairo, which triggered global outrage.
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said, "we must respect judicial rulings and not criticise them even if others do not understand this".
A court in Cairo found Australian Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed guilty of spreading false news.
The trio had denied the charges and are expected to appeal.
Earlier, Australian FM Julie Bishop told the BBC Canberra would work with the Egyptian government to try to secure Greste's release "as soon as possible".
"We support Egypt's transition to democracy, but that also includes freedom of speech and press."
AL JAZEERA TRIAL
- Defendants included al Jazeera's Cairo bureau chief, Mohamed Fahmy, who is Canadian-Egyptian, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed and Australian correspondent Peter Greste
- They denied charges of spreading false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood
- The three men were seized in a raid at a Cairo hotel on 29 December and have been held at Cairo's Tora prison
- The court tried a total of 20 people, including nine al Jazeera employees
Bishop also ruled out imposing sanctions on Egypt, saying it was "not helpful at this stage".
The jailing of the reporters has been condemned by media organisations around the world.
In London, BBC staff were joined by colleagues from other news organisations in a one-minute silent protest outside New Broadcasting House in London.
The protest took place at 09:41 BST (08:41 GMT) - exactly 24 hours after the sentencing in Cairo on Monday.
"The case is unjust," the BBC's News Director James Harding told the gathering.
He added that journalists around the world "have to stand together" for reporters being imprisoned for simply doing their job.
Harding added that journalists would be sending a letter to the Egyptian president, calling him to intervene.
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