Journalists’ sentencing draws angry reactions

Reporters and rights activists reacted angrily after two local journalists were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for disparaging President Hosni Mubarak in a newspaper article published last year. “After some improvement to media freedom within the last couple years, the government is now sending a message – especially after last year’s parliamentary elections – that the party is over; that red lines can no longer be crossed,” said Hossam el-Hamalawy, a Cairo-based journalist and political analyst. Ibrahim Issa, editor in chief of independent weekly Al-Dustoor, and Sahar Zaki, a news reporter for the same paper, were each sentenced on Monday to one year in prison on charges of insulting the image of the president and the Egyptian people. The journalists, who currently remain free on bail pending appeal, were additionally fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately US $1,750) each. The charges were brought against the two newsmen after the publication in April last year of an article in which they accused the president and his immediate family of “wasting the country’s resources” by selling off state assets and squandering foreign aid. The article went on to lambaste the president for “replacing the constitution with the rule of state security”. Al-Dustour – which returned to newsstands last year after a seven-year ban for outspokenly criticising the government – is known for taking controversial positions vis-à-vis the regime. The stiff sentences were handed down to the two men despite earlier promises by the government that prison terms for press offences, such as libel, would be abolished. In February of 2004, Mubarak told a Press Syndicate general conference that the unpopular 1996 press law would be amended with the aim of replacing jail terms for so-called “publication offences” with hefty financial penalties for offending publications. “Nobody in Egypt will be imprisoned again for their opinions,” crowed Press Syndicate Chairman Galal Aref at the time. While journalists and political reformers were initially cheered by the news, however, the contentious legislation has yet to be changed, and reporters continue to receive jail time for criticising the government. “I’m not optimistic about [promised amendments to the press law],” said el-Hamalawy. “The draft judiciary law [ratified by parliament yesterday] received far more attention than the proposed press law, but the government still made no concessions to reform – so I’m not hopeful for any positive amendment of the press law.” Lynn Tehini, the head of Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders) Middle East desk, condemned the sentencing saying, “Unfortunately, this is yet more proof of President Mubarak’s broken promises, the last one being in December, that he will work on a law to prevent prison sentences for defamation cases. Nothing has changed. We can see that there are still prison sentences being handed down in such cases. This has happened since the beginning of the year. What is more, these sentences are for long time periods, they are not even suspended prison sentences.” The New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also decried the sentencing. “Taken together with President Mubarak’s empty promise, the continuing prosecutions of outspoken journalists demonstrate this government’s hostility toward independent journalism,” CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper noted in a 26 June press release. “We call on Egypt to put an end to the egregious practice of prosecuting journalists for their work.” According to the CPJ, at least two other Egyptian journalists received prison sentences this year on defamation charges. AM/AR/AD