* Human rights, press freedom groups condemn case
* West urges democracy in Egypt but little action taken
* Appeal planned; defendants have called charges absurd
(Adds U.S. State Department statement, paragraph 16)
By Ahmed Aboulenein
CAIRO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced three
Al Jazeera TV journalists to three years in prison on Saturday
for operating without a press license and broadcasting material
harmful to Egypt, a case that has stirred an international
outcry.
The verdict, in a retrial, was issued against Mohamed Fahmy,
a naturalised Canadian who has given up his Egyptian
citizenship, Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian, and Peter Greste, an
Australian who was deported in February.
Rights advocates say their arrest was part of a crackdown on
free speech waged since the army overthrew President Mohamed
Mursi, a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, in July 2013
following mass unrest over his rule.
Judge Hassan Farid said the defendants, dubbed the "Marriott
Cell" by the local press because they worked out of a hotel
belonging to that chain, "are not journalists and not members of
the press syndicate" and broadcast with unlicensed equipment.
Baher received an additional six months in prison. The state
news agency MENA said that extra time was handed down because he
was in possession of a bullet at the time of his arrest.
The three men were originally sentenced to seven to 10 years
in prison on charges that included spreading lies to help a
terrorist organisation, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood,
which the military toppled from power two years ago.
The three defendants denied all charges, calling them
absurd. Three other Egyptians, all students, also received
three-year sentences for the same charges.
Speaking on Al Jazeera in reaction to Saturday's verdict,
Greste said he was shocked at the scale of the sentence. "Words
really don't do justice," he said. "To be given three-year
sentences is outrageous. It is just devastating for me."
Fahmy and Mohamed, who were released on bail in February
after over a year in jail, were taken back into custody after
the verdict, according to Fahmy's wife, Marwa Omara. She was in
tears after the sentences were read out.
APPEAL PLANNED
"We will appeal this verdict and hope it will be reversed.
We are now going to be holding a series of meetings with
government officials where we will be asking for Mr. Fahmy's
immediate deportation to Canada," said Fahmy's lawyer, Amal
Clooney.
"His colleague Peter Greste was sent back to Australia;
there is no reason why the same thing shouldn't happen in Mr.
Fahmy's case."
Western governments have voiced concern for freedom of
expression in Egypt since Mursi was ousted but have not taken
concrete steps to promote democracy in Egypt, an important
strategic ally in the Middle East.
"Mohamed has been sentenced and all I can ask for now is for
all his colleagues to stand by him and to keep calling for his
release, but this is extremely unfair," said Fahmy's wife.
"I ask the Canadian government to extract him from here as
he is a Canadian citizen and to deport him back to Canada. All
what I am asking (for) is justice and fairness, for what
happened with Peter to be applied to Mohamed."
Canada called for Fahmy's "full and immediate release,"
after the verdict. "Senior Canadian officials in Canada and in
Cairo are pressing Egyptian authorities on Mr. Fahmy's case.
This includes advocating for the same treatment of Mr. Fahmy as
other foreign nationals have received," Canadian Minister of
State Lynne Yelich said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement it was "deeply
disappointed" by the verdict, which "undermines the very freedom
of expression necessary for stability and development."
Al Jazeera condemned the court's decision in a statement
read by the channel's general director, Mostefa Souag.
"This judgment is a new attack on the freedom of the press,
and it's a black day in the history of the Egyptian judiciary."
"There is no evidence our colleagues in any way fabricated
news. This was comprehensively debunked by the court's own
technical committee," Al Jazeera English Acting Managing
Director Giles Trendle told a news conference in Doha.
Human rights groups have accused Egyptian authorities of
rolling back freedoms won in the 2011 popular uprising that
toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
In June, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists
said Egypt was holding at least 18 journalists behind bars, the
highest number since record-keeping began in 1990. They were
being held on the pretext of national security to crack down on
media freedoms, it said.
Egypt says it has launched a security crackdown to eradicate
Islamist militant "terrorists" and deliver stability.
Speaking after the verdict, the British ambassador to Egypt,
John Casson, said the country's stability should not be built on
a "shaky foundation which deprives people of their rights and
undermines the freedom of the press and freedom of expression."
Amnesty International called Saturday's verdict "farcical."
"The fact that two of these journalists are now facing time
in jail following two grossly unfair trials makes a mockery of
justice in Egypt," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's director for
the Middle East and North Africa.