Al Jazeera controversies and criticism Cairo ordered Al Jazeera to stop broadcasting in Egypt, claiming it was "inciting violence that led to the deaths of Egyptians." On December 29, 2013, three journalists working for the Qatari-based international news channel Al Jazeera English, Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed were taken into custody by Egyptian security forces at the Marriott Hotel in Cairo. On June 23, 2014 after a 4-month trial, all three were found guilty of spreading false news and collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood and they were sentenced between 7 and 10 years imprisonment. All were released on bail
Al Jazeera BBC announced that it had signed an agreement with Al Jazeera for sharing facilities and information, including news footage. Al Jazeera's availability (via satellite) throughout the Middle East changed the television landscape of the region. Prior to the arrival of Al Jazeera, many Middle Eastern citizens were unable to watch TV channels other than state-controlled national TV stations. Al Jazeera introduced a level of freedom of speech on TV that was previously unheard of in many of these countries. Al Jazeera presented controversial views regarding the governments of many Arab states on the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain