Peter Greste: Al-Jazeera journalist freed by Egypt

The Australian ex-BBC correspondent was arrested in December 2013 and imprisoned last June on charges that included spreading false news.He was jailed with two other al-Jazeera men – Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.Presidential sources said Mr Fahmy would be deported to Canada after his dual Egyptian nationality was dropped.All the defendants denied the charges against […]

The Australian ex-BBC correspondent was arrested in December 2013 and imprisoned last June on charges that included spreading false news.
He was jailed with two other al-Jazeera men – Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.
Presidential sources said Mr Fahmy would be deported to Canada after his dual Egyptian nationality was dropped.
All the defendants denied the charges against them and said their trial was a sham.
They were accused of collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013. The three men said they were simply reporting the news.
Al-Jazeera tweeted that it welcomed Peter Greste’s release and demanded Mr Fahmy and Mr Baher be freed.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi had said in November he was considering the possibility of granting pardons to the two foreign al-Jazeera journalists.
Then in January, Egypt’s top court ordered a retrial of all three men.
On Sunday an Egyptian official told Agence France-Presse news agency: “There is a presidential decision to deport Peter Greste to Australia.”