The Egyptian Foreign Ministry met with the British ambassador, John Casson, in Cairo and rejected comments he made after the high profile case of the three Al Jazeera journalists who were sentenced to three years in prison Saturday.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, the ministry's official spokesman, made a statement saying John Casson's comments were an unacceptable of interference, according to the Associated Press .
"Egypt rejects any foreign criticism of judicial verdicts and considers it an unacceptable intrusion in rulings of the Egyptian judiciary," he said.
Abu Zeid then went on to clarify the mintry's stance through a series of tweets that the latest judicial verdicts are "unrelated to freedom of press" but are related to "specific and documented legal violations."
"Thousands of Egyptian & foreign journalists are currently working in Egypt with complete freedom," he added.
Casson's comments that are causing a frenzy in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry merely showed concern over the country's stability both locally and abroad.
"I am shocked and concerned by the sentences in a case that is of profound interest to Egyptians because it has become a symbol of the basis for stability in the new Egypt," Casson said to television groups directly after the verdict. "I am concerned at the fact that [Saturday's] ruling will undermine confidence in the basis of Egypt's stability, both in Egypt and abroad."
Casson wasn't the only diplomat to voice his concerns over the verdict. In fact, the Netherlands, Canada and the U.S also voiced their astonishment alongside eminent human rights organizations such as the U.N and Amnesty International. However, Casson was the only diplomat to speak to the Egyptian media in Arabic.
The three Al Jazeera journalists, Australian Peter Geste, Egyptian Baher Mohammed, and Canadian Mohammed Fahmy, are all seeking pardons from President Abdel Fatah El Sisi for the charges, which are "reporting false news that are damaging to national security," "operating without proper licenses" and "aiding and funding the Muslim Brotherhood" and "members of the Muslim Brotherhood" – a group that Egypt declared as a terrorist group.