The world was shocked when foreign correspondent Peter Greste was convicted in June 2014 of reporting false news and endangering Egypt’s national security. The trickle of emails for Peter and his family that had begun with his arrest the previous December increased exponentially. The Grestes set up an email address for the letters, freepetergreste@gmail.com, then printed out copies to take to Peter. In August, Peter responded at freepetergreste.org:
“Each time my family visits the prison, they bring a new sheaf of letters … each time I am staggered by the range and spirit of the notes you’ve written. Whoever you are, whatever has motivated you to take to the keyboard, I want to send a “huge” thank you … I want to tell each and every one of you who has taken the trouble to write or tweet or donate or back our cause in any way that the spirit of support is what keeps us going…
This book contains a selection of the letters, including a chapter filled with messages sent to celebrate Peter’s release in February and an exclusive new introduction penned by Greste himself days after he was freed.