Journalists bemoan 'sad situation'

By Shaden Shehab

His imprisonment raises to four the number of journalists serving jail terms for libel in less than three months.

On 24 February, Magdi Hussein, editor-in-chief of Al-Shaab newspaper, mouthpiece of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, and the newspaper's cartoonist, Mohamed Hilal, were sentenced to one year in jail each for slandering Alaa El-Alfi, son of former Interior Minister Hassan El-Alfi.

And on 18 March, Gamal Fahmi of the weekly Al-Arabi newspaper, mouthpiece of the Nasserist Party, received a six-month jail sentence after being convicted of slandering Abaza as well. The three journalists took their cases to the Court of Cassation, the only legal recourse left for them.

Abaza was one of the advocates of Law 93 of 1995 that provided harsh penalties for publication offences. At President Hosni Mubarak's orders, the law was repealed and another press law was enacted in 1996.

Makram Mohamed Ahmed, the Press Syndicate's chairman, has attempted to arrange out-of-court settlements between Abaza and Fahmi as well as between Hussein and El-Alfi. The settlements would not only provide the journalists with a reprieve until the Court of Cassation reaches a final decision but might sway the court's decision in their favour. Although Ahmed's attempts have not produced results so far, he has vowed not to give up.

A Cairo court had turned down a prosecutor's request for a stay of execution of the imprisonment sentences passed against the three journalists until the Court of Cassation reaches a decision. The prosecutor made the request on the basis of an appeal made by Ahmed.

"It is a sad situation and the syndicate is doing all it can to resolve it," Ahmed told Al-Ahram Weekly. "But readers, not only journalists, must be willing to cooperate with the syndicate. It is in the interest of both sides."

Ahmed had succeeded in striking a tentative deal with Prosecutor-General Ragaa El-Arabi to give the syndicate a chance to settle libel cases against journalists, instead of sending them directly to court. The previous practice was for readers to take their complaints to a prosecutor who would then put the offending journalist on trial.

The journalists' code of ethics requires the syndicate's council to scrutinise readers' complaints. If a journalist is proven to have violated the code, he faces an investigative committee that must study his case within 30 days. If he is found guilty, the journalist will face a disciplinary board that will decide the appropriate penalty. The punishment begins with a reprimand, to be followed, if necessary, by a fine, a one-year suspension from work in journalism or expulsion from the syndicate.

The code prohibits journalists from levelling unjust accusations or exposing the private lives of citizens with the intent to slander. A journalist is obligated to publish any correction sent by a reader in a space in the newspaper equal to the space of the original story.

Meanwhile, the trial of 12 journalists from various newspapers in a lawsuit initiated by Youssra, one of Egypt's top cinema actresses, has been postponed until 20 June. The journalists are accused of slandering Youssra by publishing statements made by the family of police Lt. Ahmed Abul-Rouss at a news conference. On 14 January 1996, Abul-Rouss was said to have forced his way into Youssra's apartment and held her and her maid captive. He was charged with attempted murder and received a suspended one-year jail sentence. Abul-Rouss denied that he broke into Youssra's apartment, saying that he was there on the basis of a prior appointment.

In another development, Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri rescinded a ban on newspaper printing in duty-free zones. But State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Talaat Hammad said newspapers wishing to print there must have licences. Last month, the Investment Authority banned all publications from printing in duty-free zones. As a result, many publishers switched to Cyprus and Lebanon, but continued to distribute their newspapers locally.