Author: Australians Detained Abroad

From the Supreme Court of Victoria:

The family of jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste has expressed its appreciation to Victoria’s legal community for getting behind a benefit concert to raise funds to help secure the Al Jazeera correspondent’s freedom.

The Free Peter Greste Appeal, held at Melbourne’s Hi Fi Bar last month, raised about $22,000 for Mr Greste, who was sentenced in June to seven years’ jail in Egypt for spreading false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

An appeal against his conviction has been lodged given there was no transparency in the case against him, he was given no proper basis for a finding of guilt, nor was he provided reasons for the sentence he received. He remains in Egypt’s maximum security Tora Prison as he awaits a date for his appeal to be heard.

The benefit concert was the initiative of Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry, who recruited Aussie musicians including Mark Seymour, Ross Wilson, Ella Hooper, Frente, Vika and Linda Bull and the Rockwiz Orchestra to perform at the sold out event. And the band Justice Lasry plays the drums in – the Lex Pistols – was the opening act of the night.

Chief Justice Marilyn Warren was among many members of the judiciary and legal community who attended.

In a letter to the Chief Justice following the event, Mike Greste, Peter’s brother, extended the family’s ‘sincerest gratitude; the support from all members of the greater Victorian judicial fraternity was overwhelming, and to see as many high-level officers at the concert was truly heartfelt.’

Justice Lasry will present the Greste family with a cheque of the money raised during a visit to Brisbane in October.

Australians travelling through or currently in Hong Kong are being advised to stay clear of protests and monitor local media for changing conditions. For more information see DFAT advisory alert here: http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Hong_Kong

In a move welcomed by ADA this April, the US Government announced a broadening of clemency conditions for non-violent offenders charged with drug offences. The new guidelines are considered an attempt to rectify discrepancies in sentencing for Federal offences, particularly between those convicted for crack versus powder cocaine crimes.

Applicable to those convicted prior to the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act, which endeavoured to rectify inconsistencies, the new guidelines apply as follows;

• Low-level offenders without significant criminal history
• Serving federal sentence likely to be shorter if convicted today
• Served at least 10 years of their sentence
• Demonstrated good conduct in prison
• No history of violence before or during their prison term

 

Given the USA holds the highest number of Australians incarcerated of any nation, and drug-related crimes comprise a large proportion of Australian arrests overseas, ADA expects some Australian citizens may fall within the new parameters.

All clemency applications will be handled by US Department of Justice, with additional lawyers on hand to process requests.

Families with loved ones currently incarcerated in the USA, who may fit within the new clemency guidelines are encouraged to seek legal advice.

You can also get in touch with us should you require further information.

The Egyptian Ambassador to Australia Hassan El-Laithy says he “hopes and expects” jailed journalist Peter Greste will be reunited with his family in Brisbane “sooner rather than later”.

Mr Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues were detained in December 2013 and found guilty in June of spreading false news to defame Egypt. He was sentenced to seven years jail, a verdict that sparked international condemnation.

Dr El-Laithy told Fairfax Media he takes Mr Greste’s case “very seriously” and said he agreed with Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop that Peter Greste was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

“I hope when the procedures come to an end, in the courts, everything will be cleared, that’s what I really hope for, I hope that he will be reunited with his family, sooner rather than later,” the Ambassor said.

The trio is appealing their sentences and Dr El-Laithy has suggested a “strong defence team” for Mr Greste will be “able to go through the laws to find the best ways for him”.

“And I assure you this is the real position – we hope to see him back home,” he said. But the Ambassador could not specify what legal mechanisms could be used to free the journalists nor whether it would require the president’s involvement.

The ambassador was critical of the journalists’ Qatari-backed employer Al Jazeera and said both the broadcaster’s English and Arabic channels were biased in favour of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

“Unfortunately people here would think that Al Jazeera is different to Al Jazeera Arabic, which is not real, it is the same message in a different language,” he said and denied Mr Greste’s case was a human rights violation because local laws were clear.

“I believe as we have clear laws in Egypt that stated that kind of media broadcasting is illegal, so I think it has nothing to do with human rights violations,” he said.  The ambassador said Mr Greste was on a tourist visa and was “not allowed to report” at the time of his arrest. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has since said he wished Mr Greste had been deported instead of charged.

Dr El-Laithy said his desire to try and expand the $600 million trading relationship between Australia and Egypt had become bogged down with Mr Greste’s case.

“This issue has had a big impact because we talk together now and we talk only of Peter Greste, with all due respect to him, and we don’t talk about the other important things too, like farmers who would like to export to Egypt,” he said.

“It has overshadowed the general environment between the two countries; you cannot see the relationship between two countries from only one dimension,” he said. Ms Bishop has firmly told the ambassador that Cairo cannot expect a “business as usual” approach with Canberra for as long as Mr Greste remains behind bars.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/egyptian-ambassador-hopes-and-expects-greste-freed-sooner-rather-than-later-20140910-10ex51.html

SEVERAL Australians have been arrested in China for allegedly trying to smuggle home large amounts of drugs and some of them face the death penalty. Alarm about the practice and the number of individual arrests in recent months has prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to issue fresh travel advice for China specifically warning of the dangers of carrying drugs there. Because of a major crackdown on drug use in China, the death penalty is mandatory for those convicted of carrying amounts of drugs that are clearly to be sold for profit rather than for personal use.

Source: The Australian, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/aussies-face-death-penalty-in-china/story-fn59nm2j-1227055852377?nk=fbf77fb13c1bbc3d3dbfb88ff86c2599#