Australian journalist
Peter Greste has formally appealed for a
pardon to Egypt's President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi.
Greste said he is seeking pardons for
himself and six other Al Jazeera journalists
and employees that were convicted in
absentia by Egypt's courts.
"I have now formally begun that application
process by writing to President Sisi, by
submitting our application, by lodging our
application in through the courts,"
announced Greste.
During a news conference on Tuesday (September 29) at the New York office of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Greste thanked Sisi for recently pardoning Al Jazeera journalists Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed. Those two pardons were announced last week, just before Sisi headed to the annual United Nations General Assembly. "We are very grateful to President Sisi for taking a very important step in pardoning our colleagues Fahmy and Baher," said Greste. "In pardoning these guys, President Sisi has, I think, acknowledged that there was an error, that there was mistake that was made here and that he's moved towards redressing that. But this is just a step. What he has to do from here on is to pardon the rest of us as he has promised." When asked if Greste thought Al Jazeera workers were targeted for arrest, he said, "This was about trying to send a very clear message to journalists in Egypt. Whether or not the Egyptian authorities might have gone after someone else if Al Jazeera hadn't been there or whether they would have been picked up is an unknowable question. Clearly there has been a lot of complex politics, regional politics between Qatar and Egypt and Al Jazeera and Egypt, but my own view has been that this was very much about trying to send a message to journalists working in Egypt, rather than it was about specifically coming after Al Jazeera." Rights advocates say the arrests were part of a crackdown on free speech waged since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi, a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, in July 2013 following mass unrest over his rule. Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were originally sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison on charges that included spreading lies to help a terrorist organization, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the military toppled from power two years ago. Britons, Sue Turton and Dominic Kane, were sentenced in absentia to 10 years for "falsifying news" when they worked for Al Jazeera in Egypt.
During a news conference on Tuesday (September 29) at the New York office of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Greste thanked Sisi for recently pardoning Al Jazeera journalists Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed. Those two pardons were announced last week, just before Sisi headed to the annual United Nations General Assembly. "We are very grateful to President Sisi for taking a very important step in pardoning our colleagues Fahmy and Baher," said Greste. "In pardoning these guys, President Sisi has, I think, acknowledged that there was an error, that there was mistake that was made here and that he's moved towards redressing that. But this is just a step. What he has to do from here on is to pardon the rest of us as he has promised." When asked if Greste thought Al Jazeera workers were targeted for arrest, he said, "This was about trying to send a very clear message to journalists in Egypt. Whether or not the Egyptian authorities might have gone after someone else if Al Jazeera hadn't been there or whether they would have been picked up is an unknowable question. Clearly there has been a lot of complex politics, regional politics between Qatar and Egypt and Al Jazeera and Egypt, but my own view has been that this was very much about trying to send a message to journalists working in Egypt, rather than it was about specifically coming after Al Jazeera." Rights advocates say the arrests were part of a crackdown on free speech waged since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi, a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, in July 2013 following mass unrest over his rule. Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were originally sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison on charges that included spreading lies to help a terrorist organization, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the military toppled from power two years ago. Britons, Sue Turton and Dominic Kane, were sentenced in absentia to 10 years for "falsifying news" when they worked for Al Jazeera in Egypt.
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