News

Egypt charges 3 journalists with joining a banned group

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:11 pm

From left to right: Egyptian journalists Hossam Al-Sayyad, Israa Abdelfattah, Solafa Magdi, Mohamed Salah

Three journalists arrested in a café in Cairo have been charged with disseminating false news and joining a banned group.
Solafa Magdi, her husband Hossam Al-Sayyad and Mohamed Salah, were friends of the detained activist
Israa Abdelfattah , who is currently in pre-trial detention.
Co-founder of the 6 April movement, Israa was kidnapped from a street in Cairo in October and strangled in custody until she gave up the password to her phone.
Authorities in the Dokki neighbourhood where her three friends were arrested denied all knowledge of what happened to them. Their families filed a complaint with the public prosecutor holding the interior minister responsible for their safety and demanding it reveal details of their whereabouts.
Their arrest came just 48 hours after a raid on Egypt’s last independent media outlet Mada Masr ignited a wave of international condemnation over the state of Egypt’s press.
On Tuesday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Egypt to respect the freedom of the press and respect the need for a “robust civil society”.

Germany said the raid reflected a “very worrying deterioration of press freedom in Egypt” and reiterated that Germany had repeatedly expressed concern on press freedom in Egypt including at the recent UN review.
Security officers had already arrested a Mada Masr Editor Shady Zalat in the early hours of Saturday morning from his home, who has now been released.
After speaking to multiple sources, on 20 November
Mada Masr published an article detailing how President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s son had been assigned a long-term position in Moscow due to his failure to handle the media and the storm over Egyptian whistleblower Mohamed Ali.
The European Union has said that media freedoms in Egypt are declining and that local authorities should allow “journalists to work without fear”.
Egypt is currently ranked 163 in the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index and is now one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists.

Albert Echetah

Recent Posts

Protesters Demand Wealthy NationsPay Fair Share in Climate Finance amidCOP29

This Thursday morning, some fifty protesters gathered at the COP29 venue's gate, calling onrich countries to fulfill their financial pledges…

November 14, 2024

International Day for Tolerance – UAE is “Home for all” and a “beacon of Tolerance”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has always been considered an important player in the international business environment. But beyond the…

November 14, 2024

Trump chooses Elon Musk to head government efficiency department

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Musk, who has called for major spending cuts, has been chosen alongside biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy to…

November 13, 2024

10 Must-Try African Dishes

African cuisine is a delightful combination of flavors, colors, and interlocking textures owing to the variety of cultures and areas.…

November 13, 2024

Somaliland Holds Elections, Reaffirming Self-Declared Independence

Somaliland voters came to the polls on Wednesday to elect a president as the breakaway Somali region seeks international recognition…

November 13, 2024

The 2025 Champions Trophy could be moved to South Africa if Pakistanrejects ICC conditions

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 could be moved to South Africa if the Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) rejects the hybrid model,…

November 12, 2024

This website uses cookies.