Abbott hopes for presidential pardon for journalist Greste

Australian PM Tony Abbott said his government would try to persuade Egyptian President el-Sissi to intervene and grant Peter Greste a pardon.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesday there was an option for a presidential pardon for Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was sentenced to seven years jail in a Cairo court the day before.

In his first public comments since the conviction of >Mr. Greste and two other journalists working for Al Jazeera , Mr. Abbott told reporters he was “shocked, dismayed and bewildered.”

Mr. Abbott said his government would try to persuade Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to intervene and grant Mr. Greste and the other journalists a pardon or clemency.

“The Egyptian court system does work at arm’s length from the government, but I do understand that once the court system has done its work, then there are options for presidential acts, presidential clemency, presidential pardons and so on,” Mr. Abbott said.

The Australian government will talk “calmly, patiently and reasonably” with the Egyptian government to try and secure the release of Mr. Greste and his fellow journalists, Mr. Abbott said.

The court jailed the journalists for seven years each on charges of collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Egyptian ambassador summoned

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would lodge a formal diplomatic-level plea to Mr. Sissi to intervene now rather than wait for an appeal to be heard in the Cairo court system.

“Having seen the evidence, we just cannot understand how this verdict was reached,” Ms. Bishop told reporters on Tuesday.

Ms. Bishop summoned the Egyptian ambassador to explain her country’s position and concern, but the ambassador is currently in Cairo. His deputy will be summoned in his place on Tuesday.

‘We have to fight for Peter’

Mr. Greste’s father Juris Greste told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday that he was in a state of shock and was struggling to think straight.

“This will be a very hard time for him, but I know that he will get through it,” his mother Lois said. “I know Peter as being very, very strong.” His father said they would continue to fight to free their son along with his colleagues.

“We have to fight for Peter, and we have to fight for his other two colleagues and for the cause of media freedom,” his father said.

“It’s as simple as that. You cannot leave yourself in a state of panic and utter confusion.”