No voice to raise, no pencil to write and no cameras to observe;
this is the current reality of Egyptian journalism. On the morning of June 25
we woke up to news published in several Egyptian newspapers that the Ministry
of Interior had issued a statement entitled “defeat the plan of hope.”
“Under the
security efforts against the subversive movements of the terrorist Brotherhood,
the National Security sector succeeded in tracking the hostile plan prepared by
the escaped leaders of the Brotherhood, in coordination with loyal agitators
who are alleging that they are among the representatives of civil political
forces, entitled ‘the plan of hope’,” said the statement.
The
statement hinted that the Muslim Brotherhood is working on providing financial
support through the revenues of several economic entities and so-called
“agitator elements” to target the state and its institutions in conjunction
with the anniversary of “June 30 Revolution,” in the words of the ministry.
It seems
that no single journalist has verified that the accused belong to the Muslim
Brotherhood and it seems that they do not intend to do so. Among the arrested
are Ziad Al-Alimi and journalist and founder of Al-Karama newspaper Hosam
Moanis. Moanis ran the presidential campaign of Hamdeen Sabahi. Businessman
Omar El-Shenety, and the left-wing journalist Hesham Fouad who works for the
Russian press agency Sputnik, were also arrested.
Journalist
Tamer Abu Arab commented on his Facebook account, “If you
googled these names and reviewed their history, you should know that they
cannot be combined with the Muslim Brotherhood in the same phrase, however it’s
normal that they has been arrested and accused with being members of the
Brotherhood unequivocally.”
The Journalists’ Syndicate expressed surprise
The liberty
commission of the Journalists’ Syndicate issued a statement in
response to the arrest of the journalists Hesham Fouad and Hosam Moanis for the
accusation of “being members of a terrorist group.”
The
statement indicated that the commission closely followed the news of the arrest
of its two fellows Fouad and Moanis, members of the general assembly of the
syndicate, by decision of the State Security Prosecution and that they had been
brought before the prosecutor for interrogation.
The
statement confirmed that the syndicate, represented by its president, the
leader of the commission and many other council members, has assigned one of
the syndicate’s lawyers to follow the interrogation. However, the journalists
were sentenced to 15 days custody for the accusation of “working with a
terrorist group to achieve its purposes and broadcasting false news and threatening
national interests intentionally.”
The
commission expressed its “surprise at the accusation of the two fellows because
it was contrary to their known practices, while the commission respects the
prosecutor’s decision.”
The
commission also expressed its “regret for the several attempts to defame the
two fellows through alleged charges.”
Blocking, shutdown and arrest
El-Tahrir
Foundation, the publisher of El-Tahrir website and newspaper, issued a
statement on June 23 declaring the newspaper had shut down after exhausting all
the attempts to unblock it since May.
“Journalists
and workers of the foundation, all of you know that on May 9 2019, all of us
were surprised that the website was blocked and the service had been suspended
without warning. Over the days after it was blocked until now, the institution
knocked at every door of officials to inquire about the reason and to
understand which body is behind it.”
The
Journalists’ Syndicate issued a statement declaring its solidarity and
advocacy of the website. The syndicate council indicated that it called the
president of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation requesting an explanation
for why the website had been blocked. The council asked the SCMR to inform the
website staff and the Egyptian public about what had happened.
The council
emphasised that it will remain a supporter of the newspaper and the website. It
also asserted its advocacy for the legal rights of the fellows who work for it,
and said it would take all measures to prevent it from shutting down.
“The
shutdown and displacement of journalists is a red line that the syndicate won’t
tolerate with its consistent commitment to its positive role assisting in
conflict resolution for newspapers and websites to do their job without any
obstacles or restrictions,” said the statement.
It seems
that the syndicate hasn’t received any official response about the blocking of
El-Tahrir website until now. The blocking of websites began in December 2015
with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. A further 500 websites and blogs have been blocked
since then, according to a reportby
the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.
Among the
blocked websites that have been shut down are Masr Al-Arabiya, which had
a staff of 100 journalists. The website, which worked legally, has exposed
different kinds of oppression including the shutting down of websites and
arrests. Egyptian security forces arrested the chief editor of the website and
member of Al-Wafd party and the journalist Adel Sabry. Then in April 2018
security forces shut down the website headquarters alleging that it had been
managed without a license.
The
Interior Ministry has indicated that the General Administration of Censorship
on Artistic Works arrested Sabry for managing the website without a license
which is breaking the law.
The website
administration accused the authorities of targeting the
website. The raid comes in the context of a campaign against the website
because it published a translated report from The New York Times mentioning
violations during the last presidential elections.
Ahmed Abdel
Gawwad, the editorial manager of Masr Al-Arabiya, said that
the last raid was the fourth on the headquarters by the police to check their
license. “The website administration has all the required permits and
clearances,” said Abdel Gawwad. He also hinted that Masr Al-Arabiya is an
Egyptian joint stock company registered by the authorities and working under
the law with approved commercial registration and taxpayer registration.
Actually,
the arrest of Sabry wasn’t for administrative reasons as the interior ministry
alleged, as the prosecutor detained him for “broadcasting false news.” Although
the criminal circuit no. 22 decided to release him on $10,000 bail, a sudden
decision has been taken by the State Security Prosecution to initiate an
investigation with Sabry in connection with case no. 441 for the same accusations.
The arrest
of Sabry comes after the decision of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation
that fined Masr Al-Arabiya website EGP 50,000 because it published a translated
report from The New York Times entitled “for as little as $3 a vote, Egyptians
trudge to election stations.”
A regulation to eliminate what’s left of journalism
Three days
after the last Journalists’ Syndicate elections and specifically on 18 March
2019, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation issued a penal regulation that
includes among its article fines which could amount to EGP 250,000 and
temporary or permanent website blocking. In addition, the regulation punishes
media that publishes fake figures.
The
Journalists’ Syndicate opposed this restrictive regulation while the president
of the Supreme Council Makram Mohamed Ahmed stated that the regulation is legal
and doesn’t conflict with the law or the constitution.
The
Committee to Protect Journalists has classified Egypt among the top four
countries in the world that arrest journalists with 25 detained journalists on
record. In 2019 the Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters
without Borders, ranked Egypt as 163.
