Greste parents speak of 'most difficult day'

Elderly mother and father visit Al Jazeera journalist for first time since his arrest and imprisonment in Egypt.

The parents of jailed Al Jazeera journalist, Peter Greste, have said visiting their son for the first time since he was arrested in Egypt in December was the "most difficult day" of their lives.

Greste was sentenced to at least seven years in prison by an Egyptian court earlier this month, alongside his colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Lois Greste, Peter's mother, said her son was delighted to see her but seemed "sombre".

"It was not easy ... it was quite emotional when we arrived, but also when we left," Greste said, adding she and her husband were only allowed to spend 45 minutes with Peter, less than what they had hoped.

The case sparked international outrage, with politicans and journalists from around the world condemning the sentences for the harshness and the circumstances in which it was conducted.

Evidence used against the three included holiday photos, reports by other news outlets, and a popular music video.

The charges on which they were tried included spreading false news, and association with a banned organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera has condemend the sentences and has called on Egypt to release its employees.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/greste-parents-speak-most-difficult-day-20147395413314760.html

Journalists imprisoned for doing their jobs, that's what happens when a military coup is backed against a democratically elected government, and I don't care what kind of government. Since the coup, thousands of secular demonstrators have been sentenced to death and Egypt is now back to a dictator. The military, who have run Egypt for so long (contrary to unimformed opinion, Morsi had restrictions on what he was allowed to do by the Military) where never going to give up power or their money making machine.

Although Sisi claimed he won with a 'landslide victory', less than half the people eligible to vote did so, even though the military went to extraordinary means to hike voters' numbers.

When the first of two scheduled days of voting appeared slow, with many empty polling stations, the government threatened fines against non-voters, made bus and train travel free to help voters move to their districts, and took the extraordinary step of extending the vote to a third day.

Turnout on the third day was 10 percent, said Anwar el-Assi, the Election Commission.

reminds me of a quote from the book "all the wyrs of pern" (in the dragonflight series)

"When a harper is silenced, all men should listen harder."

I haven't read the book, but it sounds spot on. In a country where journalists are being silenced, you know something very bad is happening.