An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in prison.

While two of the reporters, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were present for the proceedings, the third, Australian Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, who was initially freed in February 2015, was sentenced in absentia.

The journalists were charged with aiding a terrorist organization, a clear reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned in the country after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsy amid mass protests against his rule in 2013.

The journalists have always insisted that they were just doing their jobs, covering all sides of the stories in Egypt.

An obviously upset Al Jazeera Media Network’s acting director general, Mostefa Souag has condemned the verdict, saying it defied logic and common sense and followed a heavily politicized and unfair trial process.

“Today’s verdict is yet another deliberate attack on press freedom. It is a dark day for the Egyptian judiciary; rather than defend liberties and a free and fair media they have compromised their independence for political reasons.”

Saturday’s ruling means Fahmy and Mohamed will return to prison where they have been detained.

All three were convicted last year on charges that included conspiring with the Brotherhood, spreading false news and endangering national security, but they have maintained their innocence.

The three appealed their convictions and in January their attorneys announced that Egypt’s highest court had granted them a retrial.