Al-Jazeera's Egyptian journalist Abdullah Elshamy, center, appears in a defendants' cage along with several other defendants in a courthouse during a trial on terror charges in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, May 15, 2014
United States Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the sentencing of three Al-Jazeera journalists to jail terms from seven to 10 years by an Egyptian court, in comments in Baghdad today.
"Today's conviction is obviously a chilling and draconian sentence," Kerry told journalists while on a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital.
He said he had "registered our serious displeasure" with Cairo, and described the sentence, which came a day after he visited Egypt, as "deeply disturbing".
An Egyptian court today sentenced three of the network's journalists to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years, accusing them of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.
Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fadel Fahmy each got seven years, while Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received two sentences -- one for seven years and another for three years.