|
Silencing Free Voices
Two Years of Imprisonment to Al Wafd Editor-in-Chief
|
25/9/2007
EOHR expresses its deepest sorrow upon receiving information concerning the judicial decision which was issued yesterday by Warraa Misdemeanors Court in case 7823/2007 against Anwar El Hawwary, editor-in-chief of Al Wafd opposition newspaper, Mahmoud Ghallab, deputy editor-in-chief, and Amir Salem, journalist in politics department. The three of them were sentenced to two years of imprisonment for each of them, in addition to a fine of 200 L.E. and 2001 L.E. as a temporary compensation to be paid to the applicant.
The case started when eleven lawyers filed a lawsuit against the three aforementioned journalists after publishing the minutes of a meeting attended by the Minister of Justice at the Shura Council's Legislation Committee on 26th January 2007. In this meeting, the Minister tackled the amendments of the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedures Code. He also addressed some criticism to judges of the Primary Court. The eleven applicants claimed that the published information is considered a kind of doubting the effectiveness of the judiciary. They also claimed that they were injured by the publishing of these materials as the consider themselves as part of the whole judicial realm. Finally a the court's previously mentioned decision was issued on 24th September 2007.
EOHR expresses its steady stand in respecting judicial decisions, however, EOHR condemns, in principal, issuing imprisonment sentences against journalists in publishing cases which would negatively affects freedom of expression and the democratic framework.
EOHR reaffirms that respecting right to privacy could be achieved through implementing punishments such as fines and the right to respond in the same newspaper. But as for implementing imprisonment punishments, we consider these kind of punishments as means of suppression and terrifying journalists. As an enactment to the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights documents which are ratified by the Egyptian Government and imbedded in the national legislation according to Article 151 of the Constitution.
EOHR calls upon all NGOs, civil society organizations and the Journalists Syndicate to consolidate to stand against these attacks on press freedom, and to launch a national campaign to promote the Government to amend the legal framework of journalism work in order to abolish all imprisonment punishments in publishing cases, as these punishments threatens the journalist freedom and personal safety, and a restriction to freedom of expression and flow of information in general.
Its worth mentioning that starting 2007, EOHR monitored five cases of journalists convicted before the Prosecution Office and almost fourteen cases presented to court.
|
|
