IHT/DSE: Popular support swells for journalists on trial

By Pakinam Amer
First Published: June 19, 2006

CAIRO: The press syndicate continues to vehemently protest two parliament-proposed press laws and the prosecution of three prominent opposition journalists.
At their trial Sunday, independent Sawt Al-Umma journalists Wael El-Ebrashi and Hoda Abu Bakr, and Afaq Arabiyya’s Abdel-Hakim Al-Shamy did not have the chance to plead innocent to charges of libel. As relatives and supporters of the journalists, Kefaya (Enough) movement members and human rights activists filled the courtroom, the judge refused to open the trial session because of the “noise and disorder” in the courtroom.
The supporters chanted in unison and shouted slogans in an act of protest against the prosecution. As a result, the judge ordered that the case be postponed to next September, after the defense lawyer and the judge had a brief closed discussion.
“They did not see this coming, I can assure you,” El-Ebrashi tells The Daily Star Egypt following the court session. “The people’s support will definitely influence the case positively. The regime’s animosity towards us might decline, as a result. The people are supporting us as they have supported the judges before.
“I am very optimistic [about this case], mainly because I see that the society has changed, people now have a voice and they are cooperating,” adds El-Ebrashi. “[Journalists] protect people and in turn they protect us.”
The journalists are accused of slandering an election commission chief and a number of judges who supervised last year’s presidential elections when they published what they called “a black list” of judges who manipulated results in last year’s polls.
The journalists also supported claims by Mahmoud Mekki and Hisham El-Bastawisy; two cassation court judges who blew the whistle on violations and fraud during the violence-marred elections and were consequently disciplined by the Supreme Judiciary Council and the minister of justice.
“The regime has decided to punish journalists who support Mekki and El-Bastawisy,” comments El-Ebrashi, who in his article had called on legal entities to investigate claims of fraud and rigging of polls. “Members of the [government], instead of investigating fraud, are investigating us and they seem to have established a front in face of journalists who question corruption, torture and oppression.”
In solidarity with the prosecuted journalists, the Muslim Brotherhood-directed Sawasiya human rights center published a statement condemning what they called “the stifling of freedom of expression.” “This case is not only about journalists,” read the report. “It is a case of freedom, fighting corruption and upholding economic reform in the country.”
The center called on political forces to support the cause and join them in “protecting the press and the right of journalists.” Other than demanding a pardon for El-Ebrashi and his fellows, the center called on the government to issue a long-promised law protecting journalists from imprisonment and prosecution for writing.
On one level, the government said they are already passing a law “that will guarantee that reporters and journalists will not face imprisonment for writing,” said Magdy Rady, cabinet spokesman last Thursday.
In his statement, Rady said that the government is working on an amendment proposal, a new draft of the press law, that should be presented to the country’s upper and lower houses "as soon as possible," since the issue is "one of the major issues on the agenda of political reform." In a statement Saturday, Minister for Information Anas El-Fiqqi confirmed the news, adding that if approved, the parliament should pass the new law this term and not the next as some newspapers had reported. The law, according to El-Fiqqi will ban detention for press crimes, adding that discussions between the press syndicate and a parliament committee will take place to “bring together different opinions in order to reach an agreement on the needed amendments.”
On another level, the press syndicate is already protesting the law, demanding that the syndicate review it and make necessary suggestions first before the law goes to parliament.
On Friday, reporters and journalists, members of the syndicate, organized a sit-in in support of the proposal for this law. The sit-in also protested yet another newly proposed law "to fight press rumors."
Earlier this week, a member of parliament suggested that another law should be made to fight rumors circulated by the press. The journalists, however, said that the new law is only meant to stifle them and restrict their rights.
The press syndicate described the “surprise” law as a "gas bomb," as quoted in Al-Masri Al-Youm newspaper, whose aim is to “distract journalists from current violations of their rights”; the case of prosecuted journalist El-Ebrashi on the top of their concerns.
Press syndicate journalists threatened to go on a strike if the aforementioned law is passed and if the prosecuted journalists were not immediately pardoned.
Galal Aref, syndicate chairman, told the press that syndicate members will "boycott" the upper house member who have suggested the anti-rumors press law, calling on residents of Qasr-Al-Nil district, which the member represents to "withdraw their trust" from the member for "passing such an ill-reputed law." Yehya Qalash, secretary general of the syndicate, said that no newspaper should mention the upper house member's name or his news. “He should be ignored by the media for suggesting such a law, an obstacle in the face of freedom.”
"It's unbelievable how such a law could be passed, while we call for a change in the political atmosphere, democratic reform and the elimination of the Emergency Law … It is as if the people [who suggested this law] are living in another era,” Aref told the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Concerning the draft of the new press law, Aref said that they insist on reviewing it first. "Putting journalists behind bars is a crime and a scar on the face of Egypt … It is an awful thing and it cannot continue. [But] we know that the road to end journalists' imprisonment will not be smooth. We expect a struggle." Shortly after such statements, the upper house member appeared on Al-Jazeera and apologized for suggesting such a law. “I withdraw the proposal,” he said. “I never meant to create such a stir. I only wanted what it is best for my country and wanted to create a system that would protect any Egyptian citizen from rumors. I am a patriotic man, I support freedom and I support journalists. I am not against anyone and I will not get into a struggle.
“If this law is misunderstood as such, then I promise to immediately withdraw it.”

Link: http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1950