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Greste fights to clear his name in Egypt

Author
AAP, NZME. staff,
Publish Date
Sat, 23 May 2015, 5:53PM
Peter Greste is willing to fight the terrorism charges being being laid against him in Egypt. (Getty Images)
Peter Greste is willing to fight the terrorism charges being being laid against him in Egypt. (Getty Images)

Greste fights to clear his name in Egypt

Author
AAP, NZME. staff,
Publish Date
Sat, 23 May 2015, 5:53PM

Australian journalist Peter Greste says he won't back down from the fight to officially clear his name in Egypt, where he's in danger of being convicted in absentia on terrorism charges.

Greste has announced he will cooperate with the Egyptian courts after being ordered to appear before a judge.

He was deported from Egypt earlier this year meaning he can't return, despite the warning he'll be convicted in absentia.

He is willing to fight the charge, and wants to be able to give evidence by video link.

"What I'm asking the court to do is to understand and accept that these are extraordinary circumstances. They must understand that I'm not a fugitive, I'm not on the run, I'm not trying to evade justice - I'm not there because the government won't let me be there."

Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were arrested in December 2013 and charged with supporting the black-listed Muslim Brotherhood group of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The three, who were also accused of spreading false information, were initially convicted of terrorism-related charges in a trial widely derided as political by rights groups and fellow journalists. 

But Greste was unconditionally deported in February, on the order of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, having spent the previous 400 days jail.

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