A small but vocal Sydney protest has called on Egypt to free Australian journalist Peter Greste.
The 48-year-old Al-Jazeera reporter and a number of his network colleagues face a bail hearing on Thursday, seven weeks after being detained by Egyptian authorities.
They're accused of backing the black-listed Muslim Brotherhood and portraying Egypt in a state of civil war.
About 30 people gathered outside Egypt's consulate in Sydney's inner suburbs on Thursday demanding that Greste and his colleagues be freed.
The protest was organised by Amnesty International Australia as part of a number of other rallies being held worldwide.
Amnesty spokesman Michael Hayworth said Egyptian authorities had launched a widespread crackdown on freedom of speech.
"Egypt needs to make a clean break from its past," he told reporters at the protest.
"The international community needs to send a clear message that locking up journalists for reporting what they see is never acceptable."
Mr Greste's Brisbane-based parents Juris and Lois say their son is managing to keep "mind and body together".
The hearing will provide Mr Greste's defence team an opportunity to hear the evidence against him.
"We haven't been told of any likely outcomes - it's all conjecture and guesswork," Juris Greste told the ABC.
Meanwhile, Peter Greste's brother, Andrew has arrived at a court in Egypt ahead of his brother's trial.
