TCF senior fellow Michael Wahid Hanna appeared on PBS NewsHour last night to analyze the guilty verdict and sentencing of three Al Jazeera journalists who were accused of conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood.

The trial generated a firestorm of criticism in the international community directed toward the government of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Hanna argued this case is only the most high-profile example of a general trend within the Egyptian security and political institutions toward a crackdown on independent and dissenting voices—what he calls a “broader wave of repressive actions.”

Moreover, the fact that the sentence was handed down only a day after U.S. secretary of state John Kerry visited Cairo casts an awkward light on American policy toward the Egyptian government.

Watch the full video: