Peter Greste's family 'ecstatic' at journalist's release from Egyptian prison
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Version 0 of 1. The family of Australian journalist Peter Greste have spoken of their elation at his sudden release from an Egyptian prison, as well as their ongoing concern for his al-Jazeera colleagues, who remain in captivity. They also acknowledged the personal toll that his ordeal – and their campaign to end it – has taken on them all. At least one family member has been in Egypt for all but one of the past 13 months in their fight to free Greste. At a press conference in Brisbane, the family, visibly delighted, said they had learned of Greste’s release in a phone call from his brother Mike on Sunday. Mike and Peter were in Cyprus together on Monday morning, with the pair expected to return to Australia later this week. Related: Peter Greste released after serving 13 months in Egyptian jail – while others wait and hope Greste’s father, Juris, joked that their campaign’s “thousands upon thousands” of supporters deserved collective honours “while we’re in a knighthood mode” – a reference to Australian prime minister Tony Abbott’s recent decision to award a knighthood to Prince Philip. Greste, originally from Brisbane, was jailed on New Year’s Day in 2014 along with al-Jazeera colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed after being convicted of “spreading false news” in a trial widely considered a travesty. As an Australian national, he was deported under the terms of a recently enacted presidential decree that allows foreign detainees to continue their detention in their home countries, and which is thought to have been passed with Greste’s case in mind. He will be a free man from now on, however, since the charges on which he was imprisoned in Egypt do not exist in Australia. Andrew Greste, Peter’s brother, said Peter’s delight at his release was “tempered and constrained” by the continued imprisonment of Fahmy and Mohamed, who “also deserve to be freed”. “I personally know the ordeal and pain that they’re going through and if I can do anything to help with that, then I will,” he told Guardian Australia. He had earlier told reporters his brother “won’t rest until they’re released from prison and we hope that will follow in the very near future”. Greste himself would need time to appreciate the enormity of his release and the scale of the campaign that preceded it, Andrew said. Fahmy, a Canadian, is also expected to be deported soon, but on Sunday he and his family would speak only about Greste. “I am ecstatic for Peter,” he said, in comments relayed from prison by his family. “We have all suffered immensely and knowing he will be reunited with his family is a victory for all of us.” But the news was bittersweet for Mohamed. As an Egyptian national, Mohamed is ineligible for deportation as he holds only an Egyptian passport. The last hope for him – and for five students jailed alongside him – is a forthcoming retrial or a presidential pardon. “Baher will not be released,” said Mohamed’s brother, Assem. “As always what happens in Egypt [is] it’s the Egyptians who pay.” Their time in prison has taken a heavy toll on the trio and their families. Greste’s family was forced to spend large parts of the year in Egypt to support him. Mohamed missed the birth of his child, while Fahmy has developed a chronic shoulder condition after failing to receive adequate treatment for an injury sustained shortly before his arrest. His lawyers, whom he now employs independently of al-Jazeera, say he urgently needs treatment for both his shoulder and for hepatitis C. In jail, Greste, who knew little of Egyptian politics before his arrival, found himself alongside some of the country’s best-known political figures. Hisham Qandil, prime minister during the tenure of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi, was in the cell next door. Mohamed Badie, the head of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, was on the same corridor. It was al-Jazeera English’s perceived associations with the Muslim Brotherhood, which was by then a banned opposition group, that led to the trio’s conviction in June 2014. Greste and his colleagues were successfully charged with aiding terrorists, belonging to the Brotherhood and making up the news. Rights groups and journalists who attended the trial denounced it as comically flawed. Evidence presented by the prosecution in court included a song by the musician Gotye, a programme about sheep farming, footage of trotting horses, and a press conference in Kenya. “Happy World Press Freedom Day,” Judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata, who notoriously wore sunglasses in the gloomy courtroom, sarcastically told the journalists at one point. Last month, an appeals judge appeared to recognise those flaws, sending the case to retrial. But he refused to release the trio on bail – prompting Greste and Fahmy to announce plans to seek deportation. Greste’s family not only spent vast amounts of time in Egypt, but also learned to deal with or manage government officials, embassies, transnational legal teams and an international media campaign. Juris Greste said running the campaign was the greatest challenge he had ever faced. “Number one. I guess you could say that personally, career-wise, I’m going out at the top level,” he joked. Greste’s mother Lois said this was the case “pretty well probably for all of us”. “I’m ecstatic,” she said. “It’s also difficult to realise this day has come, even though I’ve sort of dreamed about it quietly and not daring to think about it too much.” Andrew Greste told Guardian Australia that the ordeal had had a “huge impact” on his parents’ physical and emotional health. Winning his brother’s release had become “the pure focus of their life”, making it “very difficult for them to turn off emotionally”. “It’s been very draining,” he said. “They’re both retired. They haven’t got jobs, young families, other aspects of their life that they’ve had to keep managing. “So this has become the pure focus of their life, and it’s been very difficult for them to take a day off.” While their tireless campaign has thrust the couple into the world spotlight, Andrew Greste said they went into the situation already “principled and purposeful people”. “They’re intelligent people who think about the world and its issues,” he said. “Peter’s probably taken on some of their beliefs in terms of their sense of fairness and social justice, and what’s right in a democracy.” Andrew said the impact of the experience for the family meant “there’s probably going to be some ongoing scars and issues that we’re going to be faced with that we don’t know about yet”. “But the whole thing has demonstrated to me how resilient the human spirit is, so I’m sure that we’ll manage through all of it.” Timeline • December 29 2013: Al-Jazeera English journalists Peter Greste - an Australian citizen and former BBC correspondent - Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed are arrested in the Cairo hotel where they had been working since their offices were raided. A cameraman also arrested is released two days later • December 31: State prosecutor orders the three to be held for 15 days - renewed on January 9 - on charges of spreading false news and joining a terrorist organisation: the newly outlawed Muslim Brotherhood • February 20 2014: Trial opens, all three plead not guilty and protest at their prison conditions • April 10: Protests in court about the irrelevance of prosecution evidence, including news clips of an animal hospital, a BBC podcast, a pop video, and a news report made while none of the three was in Egypt • June 23: Greste and Fahmy are sentenced to seven years in prison, Mohammed to 10 - an extra three years for possessing ammunition - sparking International outrage, including from US secretary of state John Kerry, who calls it “chilling and draconian” • June 24: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi rejects international calls for him to pardon the three or commute their sentences • November 6: Fahmy’s lawyer, Amal Clooney, demands his release on medical grounds, saying he needs urgent treatment for heptatitis C and a shoulder injury • November 12: Sisi issues decree allowing him to deport foreigners accused or convicted of crimes, meaning Greste and Fahmy could be ordered to leave, but not Mohammed, who holds only an Egyptian passport • November 20: In a France 24 interview, Sisi says a presidential pardon is “being examined” • January 1 2015: Egyptian court orders a retrial, but the three are not granted bail and remain in prison. Lawyers for Greste and Fahmy say they will seek deportation • February 1: Greste deported to Cyprus |