Arab Media Freedom Monitor “Ikshef”
Ikshef Report on Media Freedom in Egypt on April 2016
179 violations in April
58 detentions on April 25th alone
18 physical abuses
34 trial and police reports
8 violations in places of detention
9 media outlets’ closure or stopping
89 still jailed journalists until the end of April
London – May 10, 2016
April 2016 witnessed a significant increase in violations compared to the last three in months as the number of violations hit 179 violations, among which on April 25th alone there were 58 cases of temporarily detention and prevention from coverage in addition to two cases of preventing of coverage only without detention. April 15th witnessed 18 violations because of demonstrations and marches during the above-mentioned two days opposing an agreement of the demarcation of the Egyptian-Saudi border. Also, there were 13 cases of temporary detention or on remand during the other days of the month.
Security forces dealt with journalists during coverage violently, and used suppression and prevention of coverage on large-scale which led to a rise in number of violations i.e. imprisonment, physical abuse, prevention of coverage, writing and transmission, the gag ban. Also, there were 34 trials.
The violations included 8 cases inside prisons. April witnessed 18 cases of physical abuse and 27 preventions of coverage. Stopping programs and prevention of writing were 9 cases, one case of gag ban; and one Egyptian journalist was stopped for two hours at Cairo airport and was interrogated before being allowed to continue to travel.
First: Imprisonment and Detention
April witnessed the largest number of journalists’ detentions during 2016 hitting 84 cases. April 15 alone witnessed 13 cases and on April 25 alone there were 46 individual cases in addition to detaining the 8-member crew of ON TV channel and the 4-member crew of France24 channel, bringing the total number of journalists detainees on 25th of April to 58. The rest of the month witnessed 13 other cases. Later, Egyptian authorities have released all those detained journalists except journalist Abdul Rahman Ali of Al-Aqsa TV and journalist Ali Abdeen of Al-Fajr newspaper. April also witnessed the release of journalist Mohamed Al-Yamany of Al-Hurriya wa Al-Adala newspaper after spending more than two years on remand.
During the month of April, Ikshef has received a message from a journalist imprisoned for more than two years and who has not been included in Ikshef’s lists of prisoners. Mohammed Saeed Al-Dashty is a correspondent of Al-Mashhad newspaper in Damietta who was detained on January 15, 2014 while covering the second day of the referendum on the constitution in front of a polling station in Damietta. This case brings the number of journalists in Egyptian prisons by the end of April to 89 journalists
Second: Violations in Prisons and Places of Detention
The number of recorded abuses in prisons was 8 cases, the worst of which was physical abuses against journalist Abdul-Rahman Shaheen, correspondent of Al-Hurriya wa Al-Adala newspaper, in Gamasa prison in Suez. These abuses led him to start a hunger strike in protest against repeated insults. Also, prison administration refused to let journalist Ismail Al-Iskandarani have a surgery. Moreover, prison administration refused to treat a broken arm of Mohammed Ibrahim Shukri, a broadcaster of Sout Al-Shaab program on Al-Omma TV channel. This is beside other cases of medical negligence and inhumane treatment during family visits and bad quality of food … etc.
Third: Trials and Police Reports
Trials amounted to 34 cases notably of Abdel-Halim Qandil, editor-in-chief of Soot Al-Omma; Ahmed Moussa, a journalist in Al-Ahram; Magdy Sarhan, editor-in-chief of Al-Wafd; councilor Hisham Geneina because of a press statements; Gamal Sultan, editor-in-chief of Al-Mesryoon newspaper; Ibrahim Issa, editor-in-chief of Al-Maqal; Islam Al-Beheiry; Hisham Younis, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram portal and Khaled Al-Balshy, deputy head of Egyptian Journalists’ Syndiacte “EJS”. This is beside complaints filed by the EJS against the interior minister and head of the Cairo security.
Fourth: Physical Abuses
Several physical assaults took place in April. They amounted to 18 cases, most notably of Omar Al-Sheikh, head of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper’s office in Beni Suef, and the shooting and assaulting of security forces guarding Zenhom Court against a number of photojournalists who were beaten during covering trial of protestors detained on April15. Private security men guarding the private premiere of “Hassan and Bokloz” movie in Nile City cinema beat journalists and correspondents by hand.
Fifth: Prevention of Coverage
Number of coverage preventions rose during April, the most important of which were the ones that took place on April 25, most notably the prevention of BBC, France 24 and ON TV crews. April also witnessed 23 coverage bans, including the lawsuit in which the head of International Union of Muslim Scholars, Dr. Youssef Al-Qaradawy, and 49 others are accused of murdering police colonel Wael Tahoun, in addition to the lawsuit of police sergeant accused of murdering a young man in Al-Darb Al-Ahmar neighborhood western Cairo, as well as the case of the young people detained on April 15, and the case of ex-agriculture minister Yusuf Waly linked to Al-Bayadeya area. This is in addition to the repeated attacks on journalists during trials by police and security staff of ministries and institutions.
Sixth: Channels’ Closure, Programs’ stopping and Newspaper Seizure
April witnessed 9 cases of channels closures, newspaper seizure, or stopping of programs, notably the closure of Al-Manar and Al-Baghdadiya TV channels and prevention of their broadcasting. This is beside the confiscation of an issue of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper that included a headline on the visit of the Saudi King Salman and the islands of Tiran and Sanafir. Also, a program presented by Yusuf Al-Husseiny on ON TV was stopped, beside stopping “Thowar Le’akher Mada” (Revolutionaries Till The End) program on state TV.
Seventh: Travel Ban
Security authorities at Cairo airport on April 3rd stopped journalist Ingy Salama, for two hours while returning to Berlin, and conducted an illegal investigation with her, then released her to travel shortly before the plane took off.
