Mubarak To Scrap Prison Terms For Journalists
By Hamdi Al-Husseini, IOL Correspondent
CAIRO, February 23 (IslamOnline.net) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued Monday, February 23, a presidential decree scrapping prison sentences being imposed on journalists for published articles, the chairman of the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate said.
Galal Aref said the Egyptian president phoned him earlier in the day and notified him of the decision shortly before the opening session of the fourth congress of the Egyptian journalists.
The decree was met by a ten-minute loud applause from journalists.
Aref said legal steps are now being taken to put the decree into effect.
Under a notorious 1996 law, Egyptian journalists remain vulnerable to prosecution under a host of charges, including “inciting hatred,” “violating public morality,” and “harming the state security” that carry one-to-two-year prison sentences and hefty fines.
Before the presidential decree, Egypt’s press operated under numerous formal restrictions, and self-censorship prevails on several sensitive topics.
A state of emergency law was passed after the assassination of late president Anwar El-Sadat in 1981. This allows authorities to try journalists and others in state security courts and military-style tribunals whose decisions cannot be appealed.
The South Cairo Criminal Court in 1998 sentenced editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Shaab, Magdy Hussein, Al Shaab journalists Salah Bediwi and Essam Hanafi to two years imprisonment with hard labor for libeling Egypt’s deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali.
Egypt’s press, however, remains one of the most influential in the Arab world.
In September 2003, Mubarak called for the removal of shackles on political parties and announced the cancellation of all martial orders in concrete steps towards reforming Egypt’s political landscape.
Critical Juncture
This congress is held under special circumstances and at a critical juncture as the Arab press, in general, faces now intense external pressures, particularly from the United States.
Comment:
The Americans say jump and mubarak says " how high". So does the lifting of restrictions on the press mean that they can openly criticise and call to account the despot ruler Mubarak and present the Islamic system as an alternative? The answer of course is no, this is just another pathetic attempt by the Egyptian government to fool the people into thinking that they deserve the loyalty and allegianc eof the muslims.