Egypt

There has been a deterioration in the press freedom situation ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections and the 2011 presidential election, with the return of repressive practices that had disappeared, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Under the guise of “protecting the public interest,” the authorities are establishing mechanisms for controlling and...

Egyptian authorities have introduced a host of new regulations ahead of parliamentary elections to be held on 29 November, in an apparent attempt to clamp down on independent media. The move comes less than three weeks after Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief and founder of the private daily Al-Dustour, and a critic of the government, was dismissed after the newspaper was bought out by new owners...

The press freedom situation has been deteriorating in Egypt ahead of November's parliamentary elections and next year's presidential vote. In particular, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the firing on Tuesday of Ibrahim Eissa, the editor-in-chief and founder of the independent daily Al-Dustour. Eissa has long been one of the government's biggest...

A prominent opposition journalist is to go on trial for allegedly libelling Egypt's foreign minister in a newspaper, a judicial source said on Sunday. Hamdi Qandeel could face prison or a fine if found guilty of the charge of "insulting and libelling a public servant or citizen performing their work," the source said. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit filed a complaint against Qandeel alleging...

An Egyptian court has sentenced a jailed leader to a year in prison for defaming a former minister more than 14 years ago, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). A Cairo appeals court last month sentenced Magdy Hussein, who served as editor of the long-banned opposition newspaper Al-Shaab, to a one-year jail term in a defamation case filed in 1996 by the family of then-Interior...

Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has filed a criminal defamation suit against independent journalist Hamdi Kandil, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He faces up to six months in jail and a discretionary fine if convicted. A prosecutor summoned Kandil on Tuesday to inform him of defamation charges brought in connection with a May 3 article in the opposition...

Uniform and plainclothes Egyptian security forces assaulted and obstructed journalists trying to cover protests in Cairo on Tuesday, according to news accounts and interviews by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Several journalists reported that police prevented them from covering clashes between security forces and protesters calling for constitutional reforms and the end of the state...

An Israeli journalist on assignment in Egypt has been arrested, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Yotam Feldman was arrested Sunday near the Egyptian-Israeli border while reporting on African immigrants illegally crossing into Israel, according to news accounts. Israeli TV Channel 10 said in a statement that Feldman was on assignment for the station and was working on a...

For the third time in a row, one of jailed blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman's lawyers has been denied the right to visit him in Borg Al Arab prison although he had the required permits from the Alexandria attorney-general’s office, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. He is better known by the pen-name of Kareem Amer. The lawyer, Ahmed Omar, one of the Arabic Network for Human Rights...

A Cairo court of cassation has reject a request by the lawyers of jailed blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, better known by the pen-name of Kareem Amer, for his case to be retried. The judges said they would give the reasons for their ruling on December 26, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. “This decision shows the Egyptian judicial system’s lack of independence,” Paris-based RSF...