but mr. fahmi and mr. mohamed are still under that regime. >> yes. >> also, they were also up to i believe 20 other journalists being held in the court as we speak not even facing trial. they don't even have a date for a court case. >> yes. >> can egyptians do anything to change this? >> well, i believe that egyptians by themselves, they cannot do much. i believe it's up to the international community or what they call the international community, if there is such thing, to do something. >> what can they do? >> pressures. political pressures. they can always exert pressures. we are not asking for pressures to do or to effect something evil. but it's the country, we want pressures to effect something good. and you mentioned fahmi, i feel bad and sad for him as well, but at least fahmi has got another nationality and most likely he wouldn't serve his time in prison because he has been pressurized to give up his own egyptian nationality and most likely he will be deported to canada to serve the rest of the ti

mr. fahmy's case advocating for the same treatment as mr. hmy as or foreign nationals have received >> a reference to peter greste that perhaps mohammed fahmy could be sent back to canada. in the last few minutes, i have the first reaction from the united nations from the human rights office of the united nations. i have been speaking to the spokesman for the high commissioner for human rights, rupert:ville. he said we have had huge concerns about this case. we are disturbed by these three sentences and the extra pressure it creates on journalists in egypt who are just trying to do their jobs. >> okay, james. we will leave it there. thank you very much. joining me via skype is alex andra al hassan, he is and she is the head of the middle east desk at reporters without borders. alexandra, you must be shocked. are you surprised? >> hi. yes. we are shocked and alarmed. we were pretty much expecting and demand that this trial end and charge dropped. after hearing this harsh sentence, this what we call a displaceful political verdict. we were shoc

in a tweet, steven harper said canada continues to call on egyptian for the full release of mr. fahmy and facilitate his return home. mohammemohamed fahmy and baher mohamed spent their first full night in jail. peter greste says the verdict was a gross injustice. andrew thomas spoke with him in sydney. >> reporter: peter greste has just finished his press conference to the rest in sydney. >> a positive sign in as much as we need to keep public attention, public awareness about our case and its gross injustice. remember i'm absolutely convince they'd one of the main reasons why i'm here today one of the reasons i was deported was because we had so much public support because so many people around the world were aware of the injustice in our regional trial and made it almost impossible for the egyptian government to continue to hold me there. we need to make sure that that noise doesn't die away. and so the media attention that we've been getting is absolutely vital. we need to keep it going. >> where does the campaign go from here? what are the elements of it? >> obviously there is a l

in a tweet stephen harper said canada calls on egypt for the immediate and full release of mr fahmy, and cooperation to facilitate his return home. mohamed fadel fahmy and mohammed badr spent their first night in gaol since sentenced on saturday. the judge gave them and peter greste a 3-year prison term. peter greste was retried in absentia after being deported to australia in february. he says the verdict is a gross injustice. andrew thomas spoke to him in sydney. >> peter greste finished his press conference to the australian media in the center of sydney. a big crowd of journalists there, i'm pleased though say peter joins me now. peter, there is still a lot of interest in this. that's a positive sign. >> it's a positive sign in as much as we need to make sure we keep public attention and awareness about the case and the gross injustice. i'm convinced that one of the main reasons why i'm here today, one of the reasons i was deported was because we had to much public support. so many around the world were aware of the injustice and made it almost impossible for egyptian governments

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada. the e.u. has condemned this as well. they say that it raises further questions about the credibility the fact that peter greste was sentenced in abstentia, in breach of the international law. and a little earlier i spoke to the spokesman for the u.n. secretary general. >> the secretary general has been following this case very closely. he has always been a strong advocate for freedom of the press. he has always urged that the cases of mohamed fahmy, baher mohammed and peter greste as well as all other journalists in detention be resolved in accordance with egypt's international obligations to protect freedom of the press and association. >> so that's the spokesman for the u.s. secretary general. he made it clear to me that his boss ban ki-moon has been raising this repetedly including with president sisi. the next important moment will be the u.n. general assembly. all the world's leaders come in less than a month's time to new york. egypt's president will be there. i'm sure others will be raising the case of the al jaze

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada. and they call it a set back from the field of ex-tropical depression and say that the conviction of peter greste in abstentia questions its credibility. and they say that these sentence also undermine confidence in egypt's progress towards strong long-term stability. also the u.n. i've been speaking to the spokesman for the high commissioner for human rights, he says that they're very disturbed by the sentences and the extra pressure this will now create on journalists who are trying to do their job in egypt. that statement from the u.n. offic office of human rights have also spoken to the spokesperson for ban ki-moon. >> i think whether in egypt or any other country, i think it is necessary to have a free press, and to insure that all countries abide by their international obligations for freedom of the press and freedom of association. >> now, i've also been told that ban ki-moon has raised this a number of times with senior officials including president sisi and he'll continue to r

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada. the secretary for ban ki-moon had this to say. >> u.s. secretary ban ki-moon has always wanted this to resolve and protect the freedom of association. >> what are we seeing? >> there has been pressure. pressure from throughout this period but also behind the scenes. i can tell you i'm aware of a lot of quiet diplomacy going on in meetings when countries visit egypt. they're mentioning the al jazeera case. i've been assured that by diplomats from many countries around the world. that this has been raised. i think the next place that might be important for it to be raised is when as every year you do, in september, a number of moss' time you have all the leaders in the world gathering in new york, the u.n. general assembly. that is happening soon. among those, i've seen the list of attendees is president sisi of egypt. one would expect him to come under more pressure about these convictions. >> james, you'll be with us for the next couple of hours. thank you. >> so mohamed fahmy, baher

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada.renounced his egyptian citizenship and they want him to be allowed to do the same as peter greste and go to his home country. a statement has come through from the u.k. foreign office and their minister for middle east affairs, elwood. he says he is concerned and says these sentences will undermine confidence in e gyp's strong long-term disabilitity. we have a statement from the united nations. this comes from the in the of the thigh commissioner for human rights. his spokesman spoke to me earlier on. he told me, we have had huge concerns about this case all along. and he added we are very disturbed by these three sentences and the extra pressure it creates on journalists in egypt who were just trying to do their jobs. >> thanks for that, james bays. there has been a lot of reaction to the verdict as far as social media is concerned. kamal, what has been said? >> a lot has been said. i want to talk about some of our competitors this hour because the support shown by the other news netw

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada. i think what they would like is what happened for peter greste. he has been convicted of terrorist crimes but he was allowed to go back to australia in february. they would like that. mr. greste is an australian. the australian foreign minister said i am is that dismayed. i will continue tonight pursue all diplomatics to clear his name. we also had a comment coming from the united states from the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. i know having had conversations with her, she has been working very hard on this issue behind the scenes. she is a former journalist, herself, sam angthat power tweeted greste and greste sentenced to three years for doing their jobs. out of the united nations in new york, i have been speaking to the spokesman for the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon. >> the secretary general has been following this case very closely. the he has been a strong advocate for freedom of the press. he has urged that the cases of peter greste and mohammed and fahmy and all other general

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada. good to have you with us. before we talk about canada's response how did you feel when you heard this news? >> we've been working on this since fahmy and his colleagues were arrested a year and a half ago, and we were really hoping for a better result today. it's a nightmare. it's a night mayor fo nightmare for them, it's a nightmare for the press freedom. they have no interest in protecting humans rights. rather they're simply a tool for the political regime of the day. >> canada was disappointed, they wanted the case resolved and allow for his immediate return. mohammed fahmy's immediate return. is canada doing enough? >> if canada had done enough a year ago mohammed fahmy would not be in jail right now. they've mishandled this immensely, and we've been extremely disappointed with our government. they have been actively working on this file thanks to a massive up swelling in canada that forced them to act because they had no interest in acting when fahmy was arrested to begin with. they had been working on t

mr. fahmy's case and allow his immediate return to canada.atasha gname has more on what happened in court today. >> reporter: it was a heartbreaking day in court. justice denied yet again as they heard the word "guilty." they along with their colleague, peter greste who was deported earlier this year were sentenced to more prison time. fahmy and greste, three years and mohammed, three and a half years for allegedly aiding the now-banned muslim brotherhood. >> it's outrageous. it's just devastating for me. i mean i know my heart is with bahar and th bahar and fahmy. >> ae-pauled at today's verdict. they were arrested on false charges. they have been convicted without a sled of evidence. they were imprisoned over a year, and now, they are going back to prison. it's disgraceful. >> fahmy's attorney says their strategy now is to seek an immediate deportation back to canada, something he has been attempting to do for months. even relinquished citizenship but mohammed has no such option. and the conviction will make it difficult for greste to conti

fahmy mohammed is a canadian national. the foreign minister had this to say. peter greste has been convicted of terrorist crimes, but he was allowed to go back to australia in february. mr. greste is an australian. the australian foreign minister julie bishop offered her statement: >> we've also had a comment coming from the united states, from the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. i know having had conversations with her she's been working very hard on this issue behind the scenes. she's a former journalist herself. samantha power tweeted: >> also coming out of the united nations and new york i've been speak together spokesman for the u.s. secretary general. >> the secretary general has been following this case very closely. there has always been a stronged advocate for freedom of the press and always been urge urging the cases of mohamed fahmy, baher mohammed and peter greste along with all other journalists. and to protect the freedom of the press and association. >> he told me that ban ki-moon will continue to raise this issue with egyptian officials. now an important milestone is coming up in less than a month's time. that's the u.n. general assembly where every year lea

confidence in egypt's program and fahmy is a canadian national and announced his egypt citizenship, they call on the government to use its tools at its disposal to resolve mr. fa my's case and suggests the way forward is in the way of peter greste to be deported to canada and what he has been doing for months. the canadian government very much supporting that route in that statement and we also have the first segment from the united nations, the human rights office of the united nations and i have been speaking to the spokesman for the high commissioner of human rights, the prince and we had huge concerns about this case all along he told me and very disturbed by these sentences and the extra pressure it creates on journalists in egypt just trying to do their job and thank you. >> let's get you updated on some of the other stories making headlines, they are questioning a foreign man they say was likely involved in the bombing in central bangkok that killed 20 people and the suspect that had several passports is the first person arrested in connection in the attack at a popular religious shrine and a person left a bag at the scene but it's still unclear if