Egypt: Australian Journalist Jailed as Family and the World Explodes with Fury

By Staff Writer

Father of Australian journalist jailed in Egypt said his family was stunned by the court's decision, as Australia's prime minister vowed his government would work quickly to free and get him out of Cairo.

Peter Greste was one of 3 Al-Jazeera journalists sentenced by a Cairo court on Monday June 23 to at least 7 years in prison on terrorism-related charges stemming from an interview with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

His father Juris Greste told reporters in the family's hometown of Brisbane on Tuesday June 24 that he was in a state of shock and was struggling to think straight.

"We're not usually a family of superlatives, but I have to say this morning my vocabulary fails to convey just how shattered we are," Juris Greste said while addressing the media accompanied by his wife Lois Greste. "You can never prepare yourself for something as painful as this."

Australia's Foreign Affairs Department called in Egypt's charge d'affaires Sherif Bedeir Hussein to make an official objection to the court ruling.

Hussein, the embassy's first secretary, declined to speak to reporters as he left the 30-minute meeting.

The ambassador, Hassan Hanafy Mahmoud El-Laithy, is currently in Cairo.

"We're obviously shocked, dismayed, really bewildered by the decision of the court in Egypt," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.

“Australia respects the legitimacy of the Egyptian government, its justice system and the need to crack down on extremism including the Muslim Brotherhood, but ... it is important that there be due process, it is important that decisions be made on a fair and just basis,” he said.

Abbott told the Australian Parliament that the government will continue to make intercessions at every level with the Egyptian government and elsewhere to try to ensure that Greste and his colleagues are swiftly released.

Abbott also said he had a "very constructive discussion" about Greste over the weekend with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

"My understanding is that the Egyptian court system does work at arm's length from the government, but I do understand that once the court system has done its work, then there are options for presidential acts : presidential clemency, presidential pardons and so on , that's why I'm not in the business of being critical of the government," Abbott told reporters.

Juris described the judgment as "a slap in the face and a kick in the groin to Australia as well as all fair-minded people around the world."

"Journalism is not a crime, or you should all be behind bars, it's a simple as that," he told reporters. "Our son Peter is an award-winning journalist, he is not a criminal."

Lois said there has been no decision yet on an appeal, but the family was considering all options. The family did not know if their son might be able to be transferred to an Australian prison to serve his sentence.

Peter Greste's brothers, Andrew and Mike Greste, were in Cairo to hear the decision, but have not yet been allowed to visit their brother, she said.

The case has provoked an unprecedented international campaign involving global media and human-rights groups, who claim the arrest and trial of media staff is an act of political grandstanding by the Egyptian government in its regional dispute with Qatar, home of the Al Jazeera Media Network.

Correspondents on the spot complain about the openly political and provocative behavior of prosecutors and the lack of any real evidence of support for terrorism.

A sign of the shrinking freedoms came earlier this month with the decision by the Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef to abandon his popular weekly television show, which has won international acclaim for its merciless targeting of presidents and high-ranking politicians.

He complained that he could no longer tolerate the risks to his family and the pressure from the authorities. Egypt, he says, is no longer a country which can live with satire.

The focus on Al Jazeera is not surprising. It is not well-loved by many regional leaders and has courted controversy over the years with its modernising mix of explicit journalism and a challenging approach to corruption and politics and public life across the Middle East.

But the Egyptian government has targeted Al Jazeera with particular venom because it is the media flagship of Qatar.

It is accused of broadcasts that encourage support for the brotherhood, in line with the bias of the Doha government.

Lawyers who have argued strongly that legitimate journalism is under ferocious attack will probably take the case to appeal. Worryingly, though, this case is not just about Al Jazeera: only nine of the 20 defendants are staff members.