Egypt

An Egyptian appeals court has upheld a guilty verdict against newspaper editor Ibrahim Eissa who wrote stories questioning president Hosni Mubarak's health. Eissa, editor of the independent daily Al-Dustour, was sentenced Sunday to two months imprisonment. Eissa was originally convicted in March and sentenced to six months on charges of reporting and publishing "false" information that questioned...

An Egyptian court sentenced an editor to one year in jail on Wednesday for publishing a newspaper without a licence, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported, Reuters has reported. The ruling permitted Ahmad Baker Seleem, editor of the Cairo Today newspaper, to pay 10,000 Egyptian Pounds ($1,845) in bail pending appeal, MENA reported. The sentence was handed down after the Cairo court...

The Egyptian government is increasing its control over the media, especially the broadcast media. Egypt already has a repressive press law and a state of emergency law that has been in effect since 1981. In November, parliament is due to examine a new broadcasting bill that is causing further concern. At the same time, several production companies working with foreign satellite TV stations have...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed by the failure of the Egyptian authorities to shed light on the disappearance of a prominent journalist, five years ago, in one of the most secure districts in Cairo. Reda Helal, a senior editor at Egypt's leading state-owned daily Al-Ahram, mysteriously vanished on August 11, 2003, on his way home from work in a heavily guarded area in the

Security service agents in Egypt recently confiscated copies of the independent newspapers Al-Dustour and Al Badil from stores, following the newspapers' publication of a story about an Egyptian businessman's connection to the murder of the well-known Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has reported. The seizure of...

Three rights organisations - ANHRI, the Arab Council for the Support of a Fair Trial and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center - submitted a petition to a deputy demanding an investigation into the brutal assault of journalist Kamal Murad of "Al-Fajr" newspaper by three police officers on June 17. The police officers, who are from Rahmanya Centre in Buhaira Governate in the Delta region, badly beat Murad...

An Egyptian television agency boss was charged by a Cairo court Monday over helping to broadcast images of protesters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak during deadly food riots in April, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported. Nader Gohar, who owns the Cairo News Company, was charged with not having a licence to provide satellite feed facilities to foreign channels following a...

An American freelance journalist detained over his coverage of recent riots said Friday last he had been released, while authorities announced at least nine Egyptian journalists were being held, according to an Associated Press (AP) report. James Buck and his Egyptian translator were among several taken into custody in Mahalla el-Kobra, a northern industrial city where protests over high prices...

The Arabic Charter on Satellite has claimed another victim. Nilesat, an Egyptian government-owned satellite transmission company, stopped carrying the London-based Al-Hewar Television channel on April 1 without warning or explanation. The station remains accessible to viewers on the Atlantic Bird satellite system, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In a letter...

Egypt has ordered the confiscation of a special edition of German magazine Der Spiegel about Islam that the government said insults the Muslim prophet Mohammed, Egypt's state news agency MENA said. Information Minister Anas el-Feki said the decision "comes in the context of defending Islamic values and standing firmly against those who try to insult the prophet, the Islamic faith, and religions...