Having spent three years living and working as a journalist in the Middle East, I’ve witnessed countless horrible moments in people’s lives.
However, filming last night in a suburban Brisbane lounge room was one of the saddest experiences I’ve ever had as a reporter.
Australian journalist Peter Greste and his two Egyptian colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested in Cairo in December 2013 and accused of spreading false news and supporting the now banned Islamist group the Muslim brotherhood.
The three employees of Al Jazeera English have spent the last six months in prison, sharing a jailed a 4m cell that is locked down for 23 hours a day, with only a small window for light.
Every few weeks they have been trotted out to appear at a trial widely condemned as farcical and absurd. ‘Evidence’ included personal photographs, Greste’s reports from other networks and countries, and even a music clip from Australian band Goyte. To put it simply – it would be laughable if it weren’t so serious.
Peter’s younger brothers Andrew and Mike have taken turns living out of a suitcase in Cairo, visiting their brother in prison and providing what support they can.
Their parents, Lois and Juris have had to suddenly turn into global PR merchants- holding countless press conferences, making hundreds of calls and sending thousands of emails campaigning for Peter’s release.
Last week, a few days before a verdict in the case was due, Lois and Peter Greste invited me and Foreign Correspondent’s cameraman Dave Martin up to their family farm in the Lockyer Valley, just outside of Brisbane.
Surrounded by gumtrees and creeks, with no electricity and no phone reception – it was a place to escape as they anxiously counted down the hours until they learnt of their son’s fate.