THERE’S hope Australian journalist Peter Greste could soon be deported from Egypt rather than endure a hazy retrial process.
OVERNIGHT, an Egyptian court ordered a retrial for Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed. All three who have been in jail for more than a year.
Greste’s family are pinning their hopes on a possible deportation.
“We were a bit shocked and dismayed to start off with because our hopes, obviously, had been that it would all be over and done with. But that wasn’t to be,” his mother Lois Greste told ABC television.
“Despite some of our disappointments, I think overall it’s been a good outcome today.”
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop agreed the court’s decision was some cause for optimism.
“He’s back in the position of an accused person awaiting a trial rather than a convicted person facing seven years in jail,” she told ABC TV on Friday.
The Egyptian government has indicated that it could consider a prisoner transfer agreement.
“The law in Egypt has changed since Peter Greste was first detained over 12 months ago … There are more avenues, more options for Peter Greste, his family and his legal team to pursue,” Ms Bishop said.
She said she was waiting on a phone call from her Egyptian counterpart.
Ms Bishop also hit back at criticism from Australian human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson that the Abbott government should have taken a stronger stance against Egypt over Greste’s jailing.
He said Australia should have “shirtfronted” those in Egypt who were holding Greste.
“I think the course of action that he is suggesting would have been highly counterproductive,” Ms Bishop told the Nine Network.
In June, the reporters were jailed accused of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood and spreading “false information” after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
The Brotherhood, which saw great electoral success after the fall of long-time leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, has since been declared a “terrorist organisation” in Egypt.
Greste and Fahmy were both sentenced to seven years, and Mohamed was jailed for 10.
Greste’s lawyer, Amr el-Dib, hailed Thursday’s ruling, the AP news agency has reported.
Fahmy’s lawyer, Negad al-Borai, said the defence lawyers based their argument on the fact that the first court had been set up as a “special court” for the specific case, which is against the law.
Greste is expected to apply for bail to another court on Friday.
Amnesty International says the retrial must pave the way to the journalists’ unconditional freedom.
An Al Jazeera spokesman called on Egyptian authorities to fast track the retrial process rather than string the matter out for another year or 18 months.
“Free these men quickly,” he said.
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