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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop appears to be dampening expectations of an early release for Peter Greste, despite just days ago expressing hope the jailed Australian journalist might be freed from his Cairo prison cell by the end of the year.
Monday marks 365 days since Greste and his two colleagues, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy, were detained in Egypt while reporting for the Al Jazeera network.
Ms Bishop said on Christmas Eve that while no guarantee had been secured she was "hopeful and optimistic" of Greste's release before his appeal begins on January 1, based on overtures made by her Egyptian counterpart.
But on Monday, Ms Bishop said different members of the Egyptian government were now giving Australia mixed messages on Greste's fate.
"We had indications that [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi] would exercise his authority regarding a pardon or a clemency plea in advance of the appeal," Ms Bishop told the ABC.
"Yet in the meantime the [Egyptian] foreign minister has said to me that we have to await the appeal, so there are different messages coming from the Egyptian government."
She said Australia was lobbying the Egyptian government at every level, including through the justice, interior and foreign affairs ministries.
"We remain deeply engaged... we're doing what we can to bring Peter Greste home as soon as possible and I remain hopeful that we can get that message through to the Egyptian government that we want him home."
Thinking of
@PeterGreste who has now suffered 1 year in Egyptian jail for only doing his job.
#FreeAJStaff — Christine Milne (@senatormilne)
December 28, 2014
A year.
#freeajstaff
@PeterGreste — Mark Scott (@mscott)
December 28, 2014
12noon: journos across Australia will show support for
@PeterGreste - show your support too with
#FreeAJStaff selfie
pic.twitter.com/MH5fBWIxbz — Hamish Macdonald (@hamishNews)
December 28, 2014
Greste's parents, Lois and Juris, travelled to Egypt to visit their son on Christmas Day. In a Christmas letter to supporters, Greste said while "there is a temptation to become morose over our continued detention" he felt "strengthened" by the global show of support.
"As we approach the end of our first year in prison, I cannot help but feel proud and strengthened by all that has been achieved so far," he wrote.
"We haven't won this fight yet – we are still behind bars after all – but we have made our cause abundantly and unequivocally clear."
