Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to add my voice to that of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition today concerning the disturbing arrest and ongoing detention in Egypt of Australian journalist Peter Greste and two of his Al Jazeera colleagues for allegedly airing false news and supporting a terrorist organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood. Yesterday, despite there being no evidence produced in court that could justify the charges and prosecution witnesses being unable to recall any details of the case, there was a further decision to deny them bail. This came just hours after an Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death.

Journalism is not a crime. To paraphrase Peter Greste, he is caught in the middle of a political struggle that is not his own and in a nation-state that will not tolerate any critical voices. I understand that a few days ago, Peter Greste's family received a letter from Egypt's interim President, Adly Mansour, in which he said:

I would like to assure you in my capacity as president of Egypt that I will spare no effort to work towards the speedy resolution of the case in a fashion consistent with the law and that guarantees the resumption of the family in the near future.

This is a heartening development, but the fact remains that Peter Greste and his colleagues are still detained and media freedom continues to be severely curtailed in Egypt. We call on the Prime Minister and the government to exhaust every avenue to secure the release of Peter Greste and stand up for freedom of the press everywhere to report the news without fear or favour.