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.