CAIRO, Aug 30 (Aswat Masriya) - British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson was summoned by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Sunday, in a show of "strong objection" by Egypt to Casson's comments on the prison terms handed to three Al Jazeera journalists. 

Casson's comments were an "unacceptable intervention in the rulings of the Egyptian judiciary," Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement emailed to Aswat Masriya.   

On Saturday, an Egypt court sentenced Canadian national Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian national Baher Mohamed and Australian national Peter Greste to three years of maximum security prison.

The verdict is appealable but it was immediately followed by an outpouring of condemnation.

After the court ruling, Casson said he was "shocked" and "concerned", questioning if stability in Egypt is going to be "fragile and temporary". He added that the verdict has weakened trust in the basis upon which stability is being built. 

In response, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abou Zeid said what matters is the Egyptian people's trust in the "integrity and independence of the judiciary".

"Egypt is not waiting for lessons from anyone," the spokesman added.

The three journalists who worked for the Qatari Al Jazeera have been at the centre of international attention for close to two years now.

They were arrested from the Marriott Hotel in Cairo's posh island of Zamalek in December 2013 and initially sentenced to prison in June 2014. They spent no less than 400 days in prison before their release in February 2015 on different days and under different conditions.

Their trial has been widely condemned worldwide and opened the door for scrutinising press freedoms in Egypt.