When the guilty verdict was read out, a few gasps echoed across the cavernous military courtroom inside Cairo's Tora prison. Mohamed Fahmy's wife, Marwa Omara, began to sob. No longer could she contain the disappointment and anger caused by this 608-day-long ordeal.
Fahmy and his two colleagues Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste were found guilty of several terrorism-related offences on Saturday morning, including spreading false news and assisting the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement. (Greste was not in court; he was deported to Australia in February.)
The three men were sentenced to three years in prison, plus an extra six months for Mohamed, the Egyptian journalist who the court said was holding onto a bullet casing, so he deserves even more time behind bars.
To much of the outside world who has followed these long and often interrupted court proceedings, there is genuine surprise that Egypt's justice system found the trio guilty, not once but twice.
The evidence presented at the original trial last year consisted of Greste's family photo album and news conferences that had little to do with Egypt. A panel of experts at the retrial earlier this year called into question much of the video evidence the state once again offered up.
Media and human rights groups have denounced the case against the three former Al-Jazeera English journalists. Among those watching this case, there's always been a sense that this was a political trial first and foremost — a chance for Egypt's government to settle scores with Al-Jazeera, the TV news channel bankrolled by Egypt's foe, Qatar, which also backs the Muslim Brotherhood and its deposed president Mohammed Morsi.
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