UN chief welcomes release of Al Jazeera journalist

Peter Greste with his Peabody award
for 'Somalia'
[FILE PHOTO: Anders Krusberg/
Peabody Awards/Flickr/CC BY 2.0]

New York: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the decision of the Egyptian authorities to release the detained Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste.

Greste, an Australian national was arrested in December 2013 and charged with his two colleagues of working with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The arrest of Greste and his two colleagues from the Al Jazeera television network followed the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military authorities.

Following the release, Ban Ki-moon, in a media statement, noted that there are other journalists still in detention in Egypt.

He expressed the hope that their cases will also be resolved shortly and underscored the importance of safeguarding freedom of speech and association in Egypt.

(With inputs from UN Radio)