The judge who sent three al-Jazeera English journalists to jail in Egypt has accused them of being in league with the devil in a 57-page explanation of his verdict.

Judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata sentenced Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed last month to between seven and 10 years in jail on charges of aiding terrorists and falsifying news. At the time, diplomats and rights observers described the charges as baseless, the process as flawed and the trio's jailing as an attack on free speech.

In his first statements since the trial, Shehata said "the devil encouraged them to use journalism and direct it towards actions against this nation".