28 March - 3 April 2002
Issue No.579
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 28 March - 3 April 2002 Issue No.579 |
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Instinct and ethics
Awatef Abdel-Rahman* argues that freedom of the press is not incompatible with due process
Last October, a newspaper affiliated to one of this country's political parties published the proceedings of the case against three magistrates accused of judicial misconduct. At the time, the case was in progress before the Supreme National Security Court. In response, the head of the Judges' Syndicate filed a plea with the office of the public prosecutor to bring suit against the newspaper on the grounds that its coverage of the case had undermined the prestige and dignity of the judiciary and perverted the course of justice.
Of course, opinions differed sharply. Members of the judiciary cited the constitutional guarantees on freedom of opinion, expression and of the press -- itself a forum for the exercise of free opinion and expression. They further cited the press law of 1996, of which Article 1 stipulates that journalists are independent in the exercise of their profession, with no authority above them but the law.
Nevertheless, they also argued that a balance must be struck between upholding journalists' right to free opinion and expression, and the need for certain regulations and restrictions to prevent the abuse of civil liberties. This, they say, is precisely the purpose of article 23 of the press law, which regulates the relationship between the freedom of publication and certain judicial processes. This article prohibits the press from acting in any way that might impair the due process of law or damage the positions of those under judicial investigation.
Journalists, on the other hand, believe that in publishing the proceedings, the newspaper was testifying to both press freedom in Egypt and the integrity of the judiciary. After all, that judges were brought to trial in the first place on the charges they were facing was proof of the judiciary's ability to monitor itself. By bringing this to the public's attention, the newspaper, far from denigrating that branch of government, was contributing to the enhancement of its public image.
Moreover, the journalists argued, the newspaper had performed its dual duties of keeping the public informed and voicing public opinion. In so doing, it had upheld the same spirit of responsibility that motivated other journalists who covered the cases of the nurse accused of murdering her patients, Wafaa Mekki, the actress accused and eventually convicted of torturing her maid, and the two professors from Qasr Al- Aini Medical School charged with falsifying examination results. In all these instances, the press stood by the higher values espoused by Egyptian society, which can hardly be perceived as an attempt to influence the course of justice.
Press freedom and the judiciary's autonomy are the cornerstones of civil liberties in Egypt -- on the condition that the press exercises its right to freedom of opinion and expression within the confines of the law and, simultaneously, does not strive to usurp the prerogatives of the judiciary or abuse the rights of those facing prosecution. Journalists, therefore, in covering trials, should present the information at their disposal as objectively and impartially as possible, taking pains to avoid sensationalism or inflammatory statements that could prejudice the judicial process.
It is the general consensus that the ultimate arbiter in this process should be the journalist's conscience. But how can this be translated into practical terms, especially when it comes to cases that are bound to provoke powerful reactions among the public? Ethical codes are inculcated in the judiciary's members from the moment they join this branch of government. A similar effort should be made with journalists: a form of ethical training that inculcates them with reverence for the principles of sound reporting and an abhorrence of fabrication, rumours and sensationalism. Certainly, sensitising journalists should be a major function of the various schools of journalism, the Press Syndicate and senior officials in our media establishments.
*The writer is a professor of journalism at Cairo University.
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