Egypt releases Australian al-Jazeera reporter

Cairo frees journalist who covered 2013 crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood; status of 2 colleagues unknown

By Sarah El Deeb 1 February 2015, 6:07 pm

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In this Monday, March 31, 2014 file photo, al-Jazeera English correspondent Peter Greste, appears in court in Cairo, Egypt. (photo credit: AP Photo/Heba Elkholy, El Shorouk, File)

CAIRO (AP) — Al-Jazeera English reporter Peter Greste left Egypt on Sunday on a flight to Cyprus after being released from prison, following an apparent approval of the Australian journalist’s deportation from the country’s president, officials said.

A Cairo airport official said Greste is on an EgyptAir flight to Larnaca, Cyprus, that took off shortly after 4:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Earlier, an Egyptian prison official and the nation’s official news agency said Greste was released after more than a year behind bars following a presidential “approval.”

Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Mohammed Baher were sentenced to at least seven years in prison on terrorism-related charges last year in a trial described as a sham by rights groups. There was no immediate word on the other two journalists.

Mohammed Fahmy (left), Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief of al-Jazeera; Australian correspondent Peter Greste (center); and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed in the defendant's cage during their trial on terror charges, Cairo, May 15, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Hamada Elrasam, File) — Mohammed Fahmy (left), Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief of al-Jazeera; Australian correspondent Peter Greste (center); and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed in the defendant’s cage during their trial on terror charges, Cairo, May 15, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Hamada Elrasam, File)

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The three were arrested over their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests following the military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Egyptian authorities accused them of providing a platform for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organization.

Rights groups and several media outlets condemned the verdicts as political, saying the three were doing their job during a tumultuous time.

According to a law passed late last year, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has the power to deport foreign defendants or convicts if it’s considered to be in the interest of national security. The law was seen as providing a potential legal instrument with which to free the journalists.

Sissi had repeatedly said he wants to end the case, which has prompted a storm of international criticism.