Egyptian poet Abdel-Rahman Youssef has been sentenced in absentia by a Cairo court on Monday to three years in prison on charges of spreading false news and inciting against government institutions during his program on theTurkey-based Al-Wattan channel.

Youssef, a one-time TV anchor on the Egyptian CBC channel, is known for his support for the 2011 revolution which ousted Hosni Mubarak.

He is the son of Qatari-based Islamist cleric Youssef El-Qaradawi, a staunch supporter of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, who has been convicted in Egypt of inciting against the government.

Youssef, however, has frequently criticised both his father and the Brotherhood.

He left Egypt after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Several political, media figures and journalists have been arrested and sentenced over the past several years on charges of spreading false news.