Susanna Freymark
The writers had a way with words – as you’d expect at the Literary Allsorts program in Kyogle on Saturday, June 14.
Chris Hanley spoke with journalist and author Peter Greste spoke about his book The Correspondent and his 400 days in prison.
Peter worked for the BBC for 15 years and then as a freelancer in Africa.
“I was in the UK and Al Jazeera offered me freelance work in East Africa,” he told the audience at the KMI Hall.
Al Jazeera is a Qatari broadcaster.
“As a journalist, I found them to be an incredible organisation. They didn’t mess with my work,” he said.
Peter was in Egypt in 2013 covering the political crisis there.
He became a headline himself when he and two of his colleagues were arrested in Cairo while working for Al Jazeera, and charged with terrorism offences.
Peter spoke softly about his time in prison.
He coped by not focusing on the physical constraints of the prison such as the bars on the window.
“The real battle is inside your head,” he said.
“Prison is psychological.”
His mind was the only thing he had control of, he said.
During solitary confinement, he created a routine.
“I had no real concept of time.
“There was a window in my cell and a shaft of sunlight would come through the window for part of the day.”
In his cell with that one window, Peter was able to create a sense of time passing.
“I could track the sun between the call to prayers twice a day,” he said.
To occupy himself, he made foil pictures on the cell walls.
“I smeared soap onto the foil and stuck them on the wall,” he said.
He created murals out of foil.
“The foil caught the sun. I was imposing an order on my day.”
Most importantly, he was filling his day with activity, he said.
Eventually, as prisoners, they were allowed books which were hugely important.
During the imprisonment, Peter got fed up with the dry flatbreads they were served daily.
There was an oven where he could make sourdough instead.
“It was one of the most beautiful things to have the cell filled with the smell of warm bread,” he said.
The sourdough became a way for Peter to curry favour with the guards.
The session with Chris and Peter was over too quickly – there was so much more to know about the broadcaster and how he survived his imprisonment.
To hear more of Peter Greste’s story read The Correspondent.
