REPORTER: Yaara Bou Melhem
This was the moment the Greste family was hoping would never happen.
JUDGE (Translation): Peter, 7 years of maximum jail time.
ANDREW GRESTE: 7 years? For Peter? You have got to be kidding me! It's bullshit!
MICHAEL GRESTE: I'm totally gutted. It is devastating. The death of democracy in Egypt.
As the court erupts, brothers Andrew and Michael can barely believe what they've just heard.
REPORTER: Hi Andrew.
ANDREW GRESTE: How are you going?
REPORTER: Welcome back.
ANDREW GRESTE: Thank you very much.
REPORTER: How many times has it been now?
ANDREW GRESTE: Third time, third time lucky hopefully.
At 4am yesterday morning, Andrew flew into Cairo. It's been a long flight for the cotton farmer from NSW and a long journey since Peter was arrested last December.
ANDREW GRESTE: I didn't think we'd be six months down the track and still fighting for Peter's freedom.
REPORTER: In February you said you'd be assured it would be a fair and open trial. How do you feel about that now?
ANDREW GRESTE: Well, I've been assured again it's been a fair and open trial but it's a completely different system and I guess it's different standards and different culture and a different judicial system, which is extremely hard for us to get our head around.
In a few hours, he'll learn his brother's fate and for now at least diplomacy dictates a cautious response.
REPORTER: It will be a happy flight back if it's with Peter, right?
ANDREW GRESTE: It will be so good, it will be so good. I haven't indulged myself too much in imagining what that will all be like and the moment that he gets released from prison. It will just be so good. I guess we're not there yet so....
HOTEL WORKER: Okay Mr Andrew - welcome back, Sir. Your signature please.
ANDREW GRESTE: Thank you.
MICHAEL GRESTE: How are you going?
ANDREW GRESTE: Good, mate.
Peter's other brother Michael is staying at the same hotel. He's been in Egypt almost a month.
REPORTER: What's it like? You pass the baton to each other - someone is here and then they leave and the other person comes?
MICHAEL GRESTE: It's kind of funny, the first swap over was here.
Between them, the brothers have spent almost four months here, a sign of the close-knit family's determination to support Peter.
ANDREW GRESTE: There's been one of us here at every court session and prison visit and we've used every allowable prison visit we're entitled to.
Michael has been to the prison a day before.
MICHAEL GRESTE: Took him some sushi and hopefully it's the last visit.
ANDREW GRESTE: Yeah, the last supper.
MICHAEL GRESTE: Hopefully. And he's alright. He's well.
ANDREW GRESTE: Did you talk about what, what might happen if it's not a good verdict?
MICHAEL GRESTE: I tried not to pay too much attention to it because I just can't imagine the idea...
ANDREW GRESTE: We'll cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose.
Peter's work as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera English had taken him to the world's trouble spots. His arrest in December was part of a sweeping crackdown against the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The charge was conspiring with the Brotherhood to undermine the state.
ANDREW GRESTE (February): He's my brother and family. So he means everything.
Earlier this year, Dateline travelled with Andrew on his first-ever visit to Cairo.
ANDREW GRESTE: When I landed in the airport thinking this is the city where it all went down.
Thrust reluctantly into the spotlight, the family have campaigned tirelessly for Peter's release.
NEWSREADER: The issue of freedom of speech in Egypt is under the spotlight.
The pressure has been relentless.
REPORTER: How are your parents holding up in all of this?
ANDREW GRESTE: Oh, pretty good. It's been really stressful, stressful for all of us and we're all pretty anxious, I guess, now that wore actually on D-Day and when Peter's fate lies in someone else's hands. And the outcome of today is going to affect, well potentially - depending what the result is, is going to affect our lives as well. We're pretty anxious and feel a bit vulnerable. Mum and Dad have obviously felt that the same, probably more so given it's one of their children.
Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues have been locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day behind these walls. And the world has seen them caged in court. At first, there was no translator for Peter. And the prosecution evidence has been bizarre, including Greste's BBC documentary on Somalia, and holiday snaps of his parents.
PETER GRESTE: Prosecutors did not present a single piece of evidence, there was not a single piece of evidence in court. It was falsified, there were not any facts that we got wrong, there was no story we manipulated.
As the brothers arrive at court, a large crowd has already gathered, including Amnesty International's Mohamad Lotfy. He's been observing the trial closely.
MOHAMAD LOTFY: This trial has already done a lot of damage.
REPORTER: Do you think this is a political case?
MOHAMAD LOTFY: I think from the beginning that there is a big political context to the case. There is a settling of scores I think with Al Jazeera and perhaps the foreign policy of Qatar and there is such a political background, that it's difficult to separate the case from what's ongoing in Egypt in the broader context.
Inside the court, it's not long before the prisoners are brought in.
MICHAEL GRESTE: Peter's just in the front down there.
REPORTER: Has he seen you?
MICHAEL GRESTE: I think so, yeah.
REPORTER: Has he waved back?
MICHAEL GRESTE: Yep. There we go.
REPORTER: There he is - he is waving. Are you nervous?
MICHAEL GRESTE: Yeah, a little emotional and a bit sort of terrified in a way. It's not just Peter's freedom that's at stake, it's the principles of free speech and journalism in Egypt. So it's a momentous occasion and it could be a turning point.
As the brothers wait for the judge, the mood is positive. There's no sense of what's about to occur. But as the verdicts begin, the tension rises. The judge's words are translated for Andrew and Michael. Then, the shocking news - seven years.
ANDREW GRESTE: I'm devastated. It's shocking. I mean, I don't understand it, really. I guess we've just got to - I don't know - we've got to explore, we won't give up the fight, that's for sure. He's done nothing wrong.
ANJALI RAO: Yaara Bou Melhem reporting there. As the Greste family struggles to come to terms with that devastating verdict, we are joined now by Andrew Greste live from Cairo. He has just returned from visiting his brother in the notorious Tora prison.
Andrew, thank you so much for making the time to speak to us this evening. Now this would have been your first chance to speak with Peter since that shocking verdict, how is he coping with the news?
ANDREW GRESTE: Well, I guess he's coping like all of us, we're pretty distraught and upset and appalled by this decision. But he's remarkably strong. I guess another emotion that he is feeling is, he feels isolated to a certain degree. He's got very little access to information and what's going on in the outside world. So one of the things that was actually done today is set up a Gmail account for Peter and we're inviting anyone to write letters of support to Peter at this Gmail account which . Anyone is invited to write a letter of support for Peter or a letter of endorsement. He would love to see that and we'll hopefully pass those messages onto Peter as best we can.
ANJALI RAO: Does Peter himself have a message that he would like to give?
ANDREW GRESTE: He certainly does. I have just come from Tora and obviously we have discussed lots of issues. I guess he's outraged and appalled at the verdict, particularly after we've seen absolutely no evidence in court that backs up the charges. There have been numerous procedural inconsistencies which have been outlined by the legal team. But he's also vowed to fight on. He's a remarkably tough character and he has vowed to fight on and explore all his options. I guess he sees the case as a bigger issue than just the particular charges against him. His message is that the case is really about the broader issue of free speech and a free press in Egypt and he sees it as an attack on that.
ANJALI RAO: Can you describe for us Andrew, what the conditions are like for him in his prison cell?
ANDREW GRESTE: He's in a small prison cell, which roughly measures three metres by four metres. He's in there with his two other colleagues at the moment. And he's only allowed out one hour a day. So it's extremely tough. There are no windows out of that cell and very limited access to reading and writing. He's got no writing material. And we're allowed to take in a certain number of books and newspapers but all of stuff is screened. For a journalist and someone who loves writing and expressing themselves, he really find it difficult and restrictive. And on Friday there was a complete lockdown and they're not allowed out at all. It's pretty tough. And to endure that for six months is remarkable.
ANJALI RAO: I understand also Andrew that you're considering lodging an appeal. Is it possible at this stage to get a sense of whether that might have any chance of success, given the way that the actual trial was handled?
ANDREW GRESTE: Look, we're exploring all our options. We have vowed to continue to fight to get Peter released and clear his name. Appeals are one of those things. We're just literally have been 24 hours since we've heard the verdict. So we've got to regroup as a family and look at all our options and speak to people that we get advice from and decide on what we do from here but that's a possibility.
ANJALI RAO: And also we've had the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia have expressed their surprise and their shock at the verdict and said they'll do everything that they can to secure Peter's release. Do you have any faith that they can make a difference here?
ANDREW GRESTE: Look, I'd like to think so, it's been very encouraging all those messages of support and condemnation that we've seen by governments all around the world, from the US, from the British, from numerous governments and organisations have condemned the decision. So obviously we're encouraged by that. We just hope that some of, all these messages are listened to and we get, eventually get Peter out of here.
ANJALI RAO: Andrew, our thoughts and our very best wishes are obviously with you, your family and indeed Peter. Thank you so much indeed. We'll put that email on our website for all his supporters. Andrew, thank you very much indeed.
Reporter/Camera
YAARA BOU MELHEM
Camera
HOSSAM ALHADY
Producer
GEOFF PARISH
Fixer
AMINA ASHRAF
Editor
WAYNE LOVE