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Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed were present in court. Australian-Latvian journalist Peter Greste, who is also a Latvian citizen, was tried in absentia after his deportation early this year.

At least three other co-defendants, accused of working with Al-Jazeera, received similar sentences.

Qatar-based Al-Jazeera denounced the verdict against the trio, who were accused of broadcasting false news, as a "deliberate attack on press freedom".

Their retrial was ordered after an appeals court overturned an initial sentence of seven years in prison, saying the prosecution had presented scant evidence against them.

"The only fair outcome of this trial is an acquittal," Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer representing Fahmy, said after the verdict. "There was no evidence and even the Egyptian high court said so," she told reporters in the court room.

Relatives and supporters in the court were dismayed by the verdict.

"I'm shocked. Terribly shocked. We waited for an acquittal and then found ourselves stuck again in the case. This is illogical," Fahmy's brother Adel said.

The journalists were arrested in December 2013, months after the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and launched a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

At the time, Qatar, which owns Al-Jazeera, was supportive of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

On Saturday judge Hassan Farid said it was clear to the court that the reporters "were not journalists" and had broadcast "false news" while operating in Egypt without a permit.

Fahmy and Mohamed, who had been released on bail in February at the start of the retrial, were taken into custody.

The trial has become an embarrassment for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the then army chief who ousted Morsi from the presidency in 2013.

Washington and the United Nations had called for the journalists' release, and their trial was seen as damaging to the country's international standing.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 18 reporters are imprisoned in Egypt.

Sisi has said he wished that the Al-Jazeera journalists had not been put on trial. He may pardon them if he chooses.

Fahmy, who gave up his Egyptian citizenship in hopes of being deported as Greste was early this year, had said he looked forward to finally seeing justice and winning an acquittal on the eve of the trial.

"From day one it's a politicised trial. If justice is to be served we should be acquitted as impartial journalists," said Fahmy, who formerly worked for CNN, on the eve of the session.

Fahmy and Greste were arrested at a Cairo hotel where they had a makeshift studio in December 2013, six months after Morsi's overthrow. Mohamed was picked up at his home.

The three were accused of having supported the Brotherhood in their coverage. However, during the trial, the prosecution failed to find fault in their reporting.

"The technical committee that was appointed by the judge gave the court a report stating that none of our reports were fabricated," Fahmy said.

Al-Jazeera's Arabic channel had been supportive of Morsi and Islamists, but Fahmy, Greste and Mohamed worked for its English-language news channel.

Fahmy says they discovered that the broadcaster was unlicenced during their trial, when a prosecutor presented evidence to that effect.

"We were shocked when the prosecutor gave this document; we didn't know this," Fahmy said.

Freed Australian-Latvian journalist Peter Greste, who is also a Latvian citizen, on Saturday said the three-year sentences given to him and Al-Jazeera colleagues by an Egyptian court were "outrageous" and vowed to fight on.

Greste, who was deported from Egypt earlier this year, was tried in absentia but Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed were present in court for the verdict.

"It's just devastating for me," Greste told Al-Jazeera in an interview shown on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation shortly after the sentencing, adding that his heart went out to his colleagues. "I can't begin to tell you just how heavily it weighs on me."

Greste said he had always suspected there could be convictions for political reasons in the case which has attracted international attention.

But he said this could have been done without additional time served, given the months already spent in prison.

"We did nothing wrong. The prosecution presented no evidence that we did anything wrong and so for us to be convicted as terrorists on no evidence at all is frankly outrageous," Greste said. "We have to keep fighting."

Greste said he believed he was unable to appeal because he could not appear in person in court in Egypt but said he would be speaking with his lawyer about how to proceed.

"We will pursue any other legal avenue we have," he said.

Greste was detained along with Fahmy and Mohamed in December 2013, before he was deported back to Australia after intense diplomatic pressure.

The three journalists were accused of "spreading false news" while covering demonstrations after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

They were last year sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail, but an appeals court in January granted them a retrial, saying the verdict had not been backed by evidence.