Canberra, March 26 (IANS): Australian journalist Peter Greste on Thursday said he was deeply concerned about the future of his two Al Jazeera colleagues who are still facing trial in Egypt.

Greste, along with Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, was arrested in Egypt in December 2013 and accused of aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, ABC reported.

The Australian was freed and deported by presidential decree last month, but Faymy and Mohamed are still in prison and fighting their case.

Greste at the National Press Club in Canberra, said there were encouraging signs for his colleagues, but it was a "very delicate" situation.

"The court does seem to be taking the process with the degree of seriousness that the first trial did not."

Egyptian police arrested the three journalists amid a diplomatic row between Cairo and Qatar, which owns Al Jazeera.

Greste focused on press freedom in his address, saying it was facing its greatest threat in a generation, stemming from the ideological nature of current conflicts against Islamic State (IS) and the war on terror.

"Rarely have so many of us been imprisoned, beaten up, intimidated or murdered in the course of our duties," he said.

He acknowledged Australian politicians for their bipartisan support and diplomatic efforts to free him, with particular reference to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.