Sydney, Feb 5 (IANS) Australian journalist Peter Greste arrived home in Brisbane Thursday after spending 400 days in an Egyptian jail. He vowed to fight for the freedom of his colleagues who were jailed with him.
On Thursday, he met his cheering family and friends and a large media contingent, many of them who had worked with him in the past, Xinhua reported.
“It’s awesome to be home, back on Australian soil and I’m a very, very happy man,” Greste said.
“I didn’t think I’d see this day. I imagined it many, many times – about 400 times in fact. This is a moment that I’ve rehearsed in my mind over the last 400 days and it feels absolutely awesome to be here,” he said.
Greste, 49, was freed from a Cairo jail Sunday and was swiftly deported, first landing in Cyprus with his brother Mike, before preparing to return to his hometown.
He was working for the Al Jazeera news network covering unrest in Egypt caused by the anti-government Muslim Brotherhood.
Police arrested him and two colleagues Dec 29, 2013, just a week after they arrived in the country.
They were accused of being Muslim Brotherhood sympathisers, and charged with false reporting.
In June last year, Greste received a seven-year jail term amidst international outcry by governments, media organizations and accusations of a miscarriage of justice at their trial.
upon arrival in Brisbane, Greste did not forget to mention his colleagues, who remain in jail in Egypt.
“But this is all tempered… by real worries for my colleagues, for Mohamed Fahmy, for Baher Mohammed, for all of the other guys that were imprisoned alongside us,” he said.
Greste has vowed to continue fighting for their freedom.
His family campaigned tirelessly for his release, as did the Australian government, his employer and thousands of supporters around the world.
“My family have been the rock, the bedrock throughout all of this,” Greste said.
He was freed after intervention by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi under newly decreed laws allowing the deportation of international prisoners.