London – March 11, 2017
Arab Media Freedom Monitor “Ikshef” condemns the confiscation of two issues of Al-Bawabh News newspaper, which was not based on any legal basis. It was only a punishment for the newspaper on its publication about the lack of security in the crime of blowing up two churches in the Al-Gharbiyya and Alexandria provinces.
Ikshef notes that Article 71 of the Egyptian Constitution prohibits completely the closure, suspension or confiscation of newspapers (whether by administrative decision or even by judicial ruling). The same article also prohibits imprisonment in publishing cases, yet the Authority continues to violate the provisions of the Constitution.
Ikshef also rejects the threats of senior officials in the country headed by Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Parliament Speaker Ali Abdul-Aal against Egyptian media to apply the state of emergency to the media in order to prevent it from practicing its work and preventing it from publishing the facts to the Egyptian people for fear of severe penalties with no basis in law or constitution.
Ikshef believes that the formation of the new media bodies announced today (the Supreme Council of Media – the National Press Authority – the National Media Authority) comes in very bad conditions, and does not indicate any good for the profession, as the chosen personalities are not known in their professional and union history siding rights issues. Yet their approval for these posts is their justification of suppression of press freedom by this ruling military authority since the coup of July 3, 2013 until now.
Ikshef calls upon all concerned parties about freedom of the press in Egypt from unions, associations and human rights centers to move to save what is remaining of freedom for the Egyptian press in order to preserve its existence in the first place and to stop the executive authority from turning to the press, which is the lung that the people breathe by, and which the Constitution provides for its independence.
