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EOHR Condemns the Arrest of Al Jazeera Cairo bureau chief
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27/4/2006
EOHR expresses its condemnation to the arrest of Hussein Abdel-Ghani, Cairo bureau chief of Al-Jazeera, and demands his immediate release.
Abdel-Ghani was arrested on Wednesday 26th April 2006 at night, when he was at a hotel in Dahab covering the bombing incidents.
Abdel-Ghani was faced by charges such as spreading false news that caused a national upheaval. The prosecutor ordered his detention for the investigations to be adjourned on Thursday 27th April.
Abdel-Ghani was denied access to legal counsel or family members, In addition, the Prosecutor's office didn't inform the Journalists Syndicate of the arrest to enable a member of the Syndicate's board to attend the investigation according to the Press Law 96/1996.
EOHR confirms that such incident constitutes a grave threat to freedom of expression and access to information in Egypt. EOHR also views the arrest of Abdel-Ghani as a breach to Article 40 of the Press Law 96/1996 which prohibits detaining journalists.
Finally, EOHR demands the immediate release of Abdel-Ghani, and the speedy amendment of the penal code to abolish custodial penalties in libel and defamation cases.
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