Peter Greste is one of three Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to seven years in jail on Monday for of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, charges the three men strongly deny.

Greste’s parents spoke out against the verdict at a news conference in Brisbane.

Juris Greste, Peter Greste’s father pointed to a photograph of his son and said:
“This man, our son Peter, is an award winning journalist, he’s not a criminal, he’s not a criminal.”

“You can never prepare yourself for something as painful as this. However, we’re absolutely determined and committed to continue this battle until Peter, as well as his colleagues, are all out of prison,” added Greste.

Greste was sentenced along with Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed and Canadian-Egyptian national Mohamed Fahmy, Cairo bureau chief of Al Jazeera English.

Cairo defended the journalists’ convictions and rejected the widespread condemnation as “interference in its internal affairs.”