Journalists, human rights groups, and governments worldwide are condemning the seven-year jail sentence handed down to three Al Jazeera English journalists following a trial that鈥檚 been criticized for failing to present any credible evidence of wrongdoing.

The family of Canadian-Egyptian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, one of the three men convicted Monday morning, have called the terrorism-related charges against him "ridiculous", while foreign governments have said the guilty verdicts fly in the face of the basic rights that are essential to any democracy.

"I am appalled by the guilty verdicts handed down today against Egyptian and international journalists in Egypt," U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement released Monday.

Among those found guilty were Fahmy's co-workers, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, and two British journalists, Sue Turton and Dominic Kane, who were being tried in absentia.

"I am particularly concerned by unacceptable procedural shortcomings during the trial process, including that key prosecution evidence was not made available to the defence team," Hague said, adding that he's "repeatedly" raised the case with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

At a news conference in Brisbane, Greste鈥檚 parents, Lois and Juris, called the verdict a 鈥渟lap in the face鈥� for Australia, and vowed to keep fighting for their son鈥檚 release.

鈥淵ou can never prepare yourself for something as painful as this,鈥� his father Juris Greste said, reading from a prepared statement. 鈥淗owever, we are absolutely determined and committed to continue this battle until Peter as well as his colleagues are all out of prison and free to do and go wherever they decide.鈥�

He added that the campaign for media freedom and free speech 鈥渕ust never end.鈥�

鈥淲e trust that the large number of supporters and people interested in this matter will continue and swell,鈥� Juris said.

Holding up a photo of his son, Juris Greste said, 鈥淭his man, our son Peter, is an award-winning journalist 鈥� he鈥檚 not a criminal.鈥�

Lois Greste told reporters that the family must 鈥渃onsider all options鈥� in regards to an appeal.

鈥淯ntil we have all advice on the table and have information about everything, we cannot make a decision,鈥� she said.

The White House called for the journalists' release.

Spokesperson Josh Earnest said the guilty verdicts follow a number of prosecutions that are "incompatible with the basic precepts of human rights and democratic governance."

Canada's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Consular Issues Lynne Yelich released a statement on Monday, saying she's "disappointed" with the verdict.

鈥淪enior Canadian officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and myself, have raised and will continue to raise Mr. Fahmy鈥檚 case with senior Egyptian authorities," Yelich said. "We will continue to provide consular assistance to Mr. Fahmy, including engaging local Egyptian authorities to ensure his medical needs are being met.鈥�

Before the verdicts were announced, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had spoken with el-Sissi over the weekend and told him that Greste was innocent.

"I did make the point that as an Australian journalist, Peter Greste would not have been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, he would have simply been reporting on the Muslim Brotherhood," Abbott told reporters in Canberra.

"The point I made was that in the long run, a free and vigorous media are good for democracy, good for security, (and) good for stability," he said.

While no American journalists were being tried, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also voiced his concern to Egypt's foreign minister, saying the verdict flies in the face of the essential ingredients of a civil society and free press.

Outrage over journalists' sentencing takes Twitter by storm

Journalists from around the globe, meanwhile, took to Twitter to condemn the trial which has been described as a "farce" and a "sham."

The hashtags #AJtrial, #FreeAJStaff and #journalismisnotacrime were trending on Twitter Monday morning.

Amnesty International described the verdicts as a "dark day for media freedom" while they were "a stark admission that in today's Egypt, simply practising professional journalism is a crime ... the new constitution's guarantees of free expression are not worth the paper they are written on".