{{Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has said he wishes the three al-Jazeera journalists imprisoned last month had never been put on trial, reports say.}}
Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail after being found guilty of aiding a “terrorist group”.
Mr Sisi was quoted by the al-Masry al-Youm newspaper late on Sunday as saying the trial had “very negative effects”.
His remarks received a mixed response from the journalists’ families.
Foreign governments, media organisations and human rights groups accused the Egyptian authorities of restricting freedom of speech.
Al-Jazeera said it defied “logic, sense and any semblance of justice”.
{{‘Amicable solution’}}
At a meeting with local journalists on Sunday, President Sisi sought to counter claims that the case had been politically motivated.
“The verdict issued against a number of journalists had very negative effects; and we had nothing to do with it,” he said, according to al-Masry al-Youm.
“I wished they were deported immediately after they were arrested instead of being put on trial.”
wirestory
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