Peter Greste Shares Strategies for Coping in Confinement

Al-Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste spent 400 days in an Egyptian prison. Arrested in 2013 along with two colleagues, Greste was tried on charges that included spreading false news and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood. Last week, he spoke with Ochberg Fellow and BBC Senior World Affairs Producer Stuart Hughes at The Frontline Club about how he found the physical, mental and spiritual strength to cope with the ordeal.

In the video interview below, originally published by the BBC College of Journalism, Greste concludes that there are specific strategies that most people can learn to help them deal with extreme situations:

“If you’re not very careful, your mind can be your own worst enemy,” said Greste. “Managing that has got to be the key point, the first job in prison.”

Greste says he was able to cope with his time in prison and in solitary confinement by keeping mentally, physically and spiritually fit. He said a mindset he developed on the front lines, through hostile environment trainings and via the intense experiences of his colleagues helped prepare him.

Click here for a full interview transcript.

Last April, the Dart Center co-hosted a symposium on the imprisonment of Greste and two of his Al Jazeera English colleagues in Cairo, featuring featuring Agnes Callamard, Yehia Ghanem, Robert Mahoney, Marcy McGinnis and Bruce Shapiro. Click here for full event video.