Greste awaits Egypt's retrial verdict

1	Australian journalist Peter Greste is nervously awaiting an Egyptian court's verdict on terrorism-related charges.
2	An Egyptian court will decide on Thursday if Australian journalist Peter Greste will again be convicted of terrorism-related charges.
3	Mr Greste's career as a foreign correspondent is on the line, as he awaits a verdict in a retrial that has been conducted without him in Cairo.
4	The reporter was deported by Egypt in February, after 400 days behind bars.
5	He and his two Al Jazeera colleagues had been serving seven to 10-year sentences for aiding a terrorist group.
6	They were found to have produced false news in support of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group, which was declared a terrorist organisation after Morsi was ousted by the military.
7	In January Egypt's highest court threw out the initial verdicts and ordered the men face a retrial, citing procedural flaws in the initial case.
8	But Mr Greste was deported before the retrial began on the orders of Morsi's successor Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
9	Mr Greste says he's anxious about Thursday's verdict because he couldn't return to Egypt to mount a defence without violating al-Sisi's order.
10	He says a terrorism-related conviction would have a devastating effect on his career as a foreign correspondent, restricting his ability to travel to countries that have extradition arrangements with Egypt.
11	Even if things go against him on Thursday, it's unlikely he'll again endure the confines of an Egyptian prison cell because he's back on home soil.
12	But that's not the case for his colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who are free on bail in Egypt awaiting the verdict.
13	Mr Greste said he hoped the court would accept that there was a complete absence of evidence to support the charges.
14	"If the court follows the evidence, we'll be fine," he said.
15	"But I'm still deeply concerned about the prospect of a conviction."
16	The men's initial trial was condemned by human rights groups as politically motivated and prompted the United Nations to question Egypt's judicial independence.
17	Foreign Minister Julie Bishop this month told her Egyptian counterpart that Mr Greste must be cleared of all charges and suffer no penalties that will hurt his career.