Egypt frees jailed Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste

JournalismPakistan.com | Published 10 years ago

CAIRO: Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste was released from a Cairo jail on Sunday and left Egypt for his native Australia after 400 days in prison on charges that included aiding a terrorist group, security officials said.

There was no official word on the fate of his two Al Jazeera colleagues - Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed - who were also jailed in the case that provoked an international outcry.

The three were sentenced to seven to 10 years on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organization - a reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Fahmy's fiancée said she was hopeful he would be released from Cairo's Tora prison soon and deported to Canada. "His deportation is in its final stages. We are hopeful," Marwa Omara told Reuters.

The timing of Greste's release came as a surprise, just days after Egypt suffered one of the bloodiest militant attacks in years. More than 30 members of the security forces were killed on Thursday night in Sinai, and ensuing comments from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi suggested he was in no mood for compromise.

Many Egyptians see Qatar-based Al Jazeera as a force set on destabilizing the country, a view that has been encouraged in the local media which has labeled the journalists "The Marriott Cell", because they worked from a hotel of the U.S.-based chain.

Egyptian authorities accuse Al Jazeera of backing the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement which then army chief Sisi toppled in 2013.

Al Jazeera said its campaign to free its journalists from Egypt would not end until all three were released.

“We’re pleased for Peter and his family that they are to be reunited. It has been an incredible and unjustifiable ordeal for them, and they have coped with incredible dignity," it said in a statement.

"We will not rest until Baher and Mohamed also regain their freedom. The Egyptian authorities have it in their power to finish this properly today, and that is exactly what they must do."

The case has contributed to tensions between Egypt and Qatar, though speculation had been rising that Saudi mediation had improved ties, raising the possibility that Sisi would deport or pardon the journalists. - Reuters