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Al-Ahram Weekly 5 - 11 August 1999 Issue No. 441 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 5 - 11 August 1999 Issue No. 441
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Focus Interview Features Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Channel One standoff
By Mona El-Nahhas
A HIGHER Administrative Court ruling reinstating Channel One's chairwoman to her post, has been ignored by senior TV officials so far. It all began in June 1998, when Minister of Information Safwat El-Sherif issued a decision reassigning Channel One head, Malak Ismail, to the sinecure post of deputy chair of television after her channel erroneously broadcast a false news report that veteran movie star Farid Shawki had died.
Malak Ismail
Ismail took her grievance to the courts, which in ruling after ruling have supported her reinstatement. Previous rulings were contested by the minister, until the case reached the highest tribunal in the land, the Higher Administrative Court, which once again ruled in Ismail's favour last Thursday. Yet, as Al-Ahram Weekly was going to press, Head of the Radio and Television Union Abdel-Rahman Hafez had not taken any steps towards implementing the verdict.
Ismail, expressing surprise at Hafez's attitude, accused him of refusing to "abide by the word of the Egyptian Judiciary." Ismail told Al-Ahram Weekly, "It seems that senior TV officials insist on defying the law. The only law they acknowledge is the law of thuggery."
Ismail intends to send an official warning to the head of the Radio and Television Union before suing him for ignoring a final court ruling. "I resorted to all the legal channels to get back my right. I gave them all the time they needed to take action, yet no positive step has been taken until now," Ismail said. Hafez was not available for comment.
An Administrative Court ruling last April said that the ministerial decree did not serve public interest, and was simply intended to keep the plaintiff from her job. The court described Ismail's original job as one of television's top posts, calling the post to which she had been transferred as redundant.
Following the April ruling, the Minister and the Head of the Radio and TV Union submitted an appeal to the High Administrative Court, asking for the suspension of the implementation of the ruling. The High Administrative court, however, turned down their request and passed its ruling in favour of Ismail on grounds of insufficient reasons for her transfer.
