Journalist Peter Greste, formerly of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian bureau, was imprisoned by the Egyptian government for coordinating with The Muslim Brotherhood, a group branded a terrorist organization by Egyptian authorities. After spending 400 days in prison and then being deported to Australia, Greste is now seeking litigation funding for a lawsuit against Al Jazeera, his former employer, whom he says lied to him about their relationship with The Muslim Brotherhood and caused him to be incarcerated in Egypt.
An LFJ Conversation with Michael Kelley, Partner, Parker Poe
Journalist Peter Greste, formerly of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian bureau, was imprisoned by the Egyptian government for coordinating with The Muslim Brotherhood, a group branded a terrorist organization by Egyptian authorities. After spending 400 days in prison and then being deported to Australia, Greste is now seeking litigation funding for a lawsuit against Al Jazeera, his former employer, whom he says lied to him about their relationship with The Muslim Brotherhood and caused him to be incarcerated in Egypt.
As reported in Ahram Online, Greste, along with two other members of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian bureau, were imprisoned for seven years for being members of The Muslim Brotherhood and fabricating news stories which supported the terrorist group’s agenda. The Muslim Brotherhood briefly controlled the Egyptian government, before a coup by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi overthrew the regime, imprisoning its leaders and declaring them a terrorist organization.
Al Jazeera, the Qatari state-owned media outlet, had a cozy relationship with The Muslim Brotherhood. Greste claims he had no knowledge of Al Jazeera’s links to the organization, and now intends to sue the news organization for negligence which resulted in his incarceration by Egyptian authorities. Greste is seeking $1MM in litigation funding to support his legal claim, which he intends to file from Australia, where he is currently residing after having been deported by Egyptian authorities a little over a year into his sever-year sentence.
In March 2018, 18 members of the house of representatives, along with Senator Ted Cruz, issued a letter to the US Attorney General calling for Al Jazeera to be labelled a “foreign agent.” Currently, the government of Qatar is under pressure by neighboring Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE to shut down Al Jazeera, which they claim supports and promotes terrorism.
