Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has sent a letter from the Egyptian prison where he’s been held for almost a year, urging his friends and family–and supporters around the world–to be optimistic as he faces Christmas in a cell. “There is a temptation to become morose over our continued detention,” Greste writes in the letter, first published in the Sydney Morning Herald. “After all, on paper we don’t seem to have made much progress.”
But Greste, who will–with fellow Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed—mark one year in detention on December 29, says the work of many to fight for the journalists’ release has become a powerful movement:
We have changed something fundamental. We – and by that I mean all involved in this fight for justice, including us three, our families, and you, our supporters – have created a huge global awareness of not just our cause, but the far wider and more vital issues of press freedom, the persecution of journalists, and of justice in Egypt.
Al Jazeera America will air a primetime special about the jailed journalists on Monday night.