Egypt Sentences Al-Jazeera Journalists to Prison

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SHOTLIST:

ASSOCIATED PRESS – AP CLIENTS ONLY

Cairo, Egypt – 22 May, 2014

1. Various, Al-Jazeera journalists in cage inside Egyptian courtroom

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Cairo, Egypt – June, 2013

2. Various, pro-Morsi demonstrators

VOICE-OVER SCRIPT:

TRACK-1

AN EGYPTIAN COURT HAS CONVICTED THREE JOURNALISTS FROM AL JAZEERA ENGLISH, AND SENTENCED THEM TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON EACH.

PETER GRESTE, MOHAMMED FAHMY (feh-heh-me) AND BAHER (bah-har) MOHAMMED WERE CONVICTED OF TERRORISM-RELATED CHARGES.

THE JUDGE ALSO HANDED DOWN TEN-YEAR SENTENCES TO TWO BRITISH JOURNALISTS AND A DUTCH JOURNALIST, WHO WERE NOT IN EGYPT AND WERE TRIED IN ABSTENTIA.

THE THREE AL JAZEERA JOURNALISTS WERE ARRESTED IN DECEMBER DURING A CRACKDOWN ON SUPPORTERS OF OUSTED EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT MOHAMMED MORSI.

THEY WERE ACCUSED OF FABRICATING REPORTS ABOUT UNREST IN EGYPT.

THE THREE SAID THEY WERE ONLY DOING THEIR JOBS, COVERING THE PROTESTS THAT LED THE GOVERNMENT TO CRACK DOWN ON THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.

MARTIN DI CARO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.