Peter Greste jailed: Australian journalists deliver letter to Egyptian consulate calling for Al Jazeera reporter's release

Updated

A delegation of senior Australian journalists has delivered a statement to the Egyptian consulate in Sydney, calling for the immediate release of jailed reporter Peter Greste and his Al Jazerra colleagues.

Last week Greste, along with his colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were handed lengthy jail sentences after being found guilty of spreading false news and supporting the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

Greste was today moved to a different prison, and this family says it is still ironing out details such as visitations and other liberties he may or may not receive.

Egyptian Vice Consul Ahmed Farid was handed the campaign letter, signed by more than 100 news organisations and non-government organisations around the world, as well as petitions with more than 150,000 signatures.

Ten Network journalist Hugh Riminton was among the group, and met briefly with Mr Farid.

He says there was some optimism in the conversation.

"He says that he understands and he wants us to understand that this is just a process, that there are appeal processes that are still to come," Riminton said.

"He didn't want to judge what those appeal processes might result in but he did say that he feels sure that Peter Greste and the other journalists, this is a direct quote, 'will get the just treatment that they deserve'."

ABC TV's Sophie McNeil, freelancer and convenor of Women In Media Tracey Spicer and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance's NSW honorary branch secretary Marcus Strom from the Sydney Morning Herald were also among the group.

Spicer says the pressure on the Egyptian president needs to be kept up.

"I think there is cause for very cautious optimism but I think we need to keep up the pressure," she said.

"This is not just about journalists, this is about the Australian public ... We need to keep this on the front page because the Egyptian people and the Egyptian president is listening."

Petitions by Amnesty International Australia and Change.org were also presented. Combined, the petitions were signed by 153,696 people.

The letter was organised by MEAA in partnership with the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), the International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific (IFJ AP), Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

It is being presented at several Egyptian diplomatic missions around the world today.

Addressed to the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, it describes the court proceedings as farcical.

"The verdict of the court, despite the lack of evidence and bizarre court proceedings over more than a dozen hearings, is an appalling attack on press freedom and carries an implicit threat to all media working in Egypt," the members and partners of IFEX said in the statement.

It continued that "there has not been a shred of evidence presented by the prosecution that in any way implicates the journalists in the charges of defaming Egypt and having ties to the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood".

"Contrary to the charges the three journalists have behaved ethically and responsibly while reporting on a complex, rapidly changing political environment in Egypt," the letter said.

Organisations from Pakistan, Canada, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Sweden, New Zealand, Cambodia, Norway, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Venezuela were just some of the signatories to the letter.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, information-and-communication, journalism, world-politics, foreign-affairs, australia, egypt, brisbane-4000, qld, sydney-2000, nsw

First posted