Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in Egypt.
New York, April 1, 2000 ---The Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ), the New York-based press freedom watchdog, today condemned
an Egyptian criminal court's sentencing of three opposition journalists
to prison terms of up totwo years for libel.
Editor in chief Magdy Hussein, reporter Saleh Bedeiwi, and cartoonist
Essam Hanafi, each of the opposition bi-weekly newspaper Al-Sha'b,
were convicted on appeal of libeling Youssef Wali, the deputy prime
minister and minister of agriculture. The charges against the three
journalists were initially filed last year in response to a controversial
series of articles and cartoons published in Al-Sha'b that
criticized Wali's allegedly treasonous agricultural cooperation with
Israel. Among the paper's many accusations were that the minister
had imported tainted seeds and fertilizers from Israel that led to
increased rates of cancer among the population.
Hussein and Bedeiwi each received two year prison terms while Hanafi
was given a one year sentence. The three journalists along with Adel
Hussein, secretary general of the Socialist Labor Party which publishes
Al-Sha'b, were fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds (5,900 dollars).
Hussein and Hanafi were taken into custody one hour after the verdict
was pronounced and are expected to be transferred to Cairo's Torah
Mazraa Prison to serve their sentences. The whereabouts of Bedeiwi
were unknown at the time of this writing. An editor at Al-Sha'b
told CPJ that the newspaper will file an appeal tomorrow.
In the first trial last year, the South Cairo criminal court convicted
the three journalists of libel on August 14 and sentenced them to
two years in prison while imposing a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds.
Both Hussein and Bedeiwi were imprisoned shortly after that verdict
was announced. They were released four months later in December, after
an appeals court ruled that they had not received a fair trial. Hanafi
turned himself in a few days before the court decision and was released
along with his colleagues.
Today's court ruling follows a spate of jailings of Egyptian journalists
for libel over the last two years. Since February 1998, 10 journalists
have been sent to prison for libel. Magdy Hussein himself has gone
to prison three separate times during that period.
"Egyptian authorities have shown once again their total disregard
for basic press freedom guarantees," said CPJ Executive Director Ann
Cooper. "Simply put, journalists should never be thrown in jail for
what they write.
"Regrettably, President Mubarak continues to ignore repeated calls
from Egyptian journalists and international NGOs to abolish the penalty
of imprisonment for libel," she added.
Egypt's current press law, approved by Mubarak in 1996, stipulates
prison sentences of up to two years for journalists convicted of defamation.
Other articles of the penal code contain ambiguous proscriptions that
can be used to haul journalists to court and subsequently prison.
Dozens of Egyptian journalists currently face the prospect of imprisonment
for published news and opinion in criminal cases that are currently
pending in court or are under investigation.
On May 3, 1999, World Press Freedom Day, CPJ named President Mubarak
one of the world's 10
worst Enemies of the Press.
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