Print run
Foreign-licensed publications can now print in Egypt, but at a price. Yasmine El-Rashidi reports
Local publications with foreign licences will be permitted to print in Egyptian printing houses, Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif announced last week. The decision follows nearly two years of deliberations about the legal, political and economic implications of such a move by a technical committee comprised of representatives from the Interior and Information Ministries, as well as the Supreme Press Council and the State Security apparatus.
Press Syndicate council member, Ibrahim Mansour, told Al-Ahram Weekly that although this was "a welcome decision because it means that the country's printing houses will benefit financially, in terms of the bigger press rights picture, this decision is very small -- insignificant really." Mansour said, "what really counts is the right to obtain press licences, and the freedom to publish without restrictions. If we're talking about democracy and development, then we need to be talking on that scale."
Although the constitution stipulates that, "the freedom ... to publish or own newspapers is safeguarded in accordance with the law," the reality is that the only newspapers and magazines sprouting with relative ease are those serving as mouthpieces for political parties. For businessmen and companies, the likelihood of an Egyptian publication licence is minuscule.
"It's not even about political publications," said Osama Khalil, editor of a formerly foreign-licensed sports newspaper . "My publication is sports- specific. In fact, if you look at the publications with foreign-licences, most of them are consumer-type glossies. On paper we are given the right as private owners to obtain licences and publish newspaper and magazines, but in practice, it's a near impossibility."
Khalil described the procedure as "too longwinded, and ridden with complications. For someone like myself who is simply interested in putting out a sports publication for the community, it's not worth the hassle and expense to apply, knowing the licence will not be granted. Having my material ready a week early and sending the films abroad to print is not easy, nor financially feasible, but it's the only choice."
Over the past two decades, many publishers have felt the same way, choosing Cyprus as their legal home of choice. In fact, the majority of Egypt's several hundred publications have come to be known as the "Cyprus Press".
Bypassing Cypriot press laws (which require publications to print in Cyprus) as a means to save both time and money, Egyptian publishers resorted to the Free Zone outside of Nasr City, where two state-of-the-art printing houses -- Sahara and International Printing House -- opened their doors in 1994.
By 1997, however, the government decided -- without prior warning or further explanation -- to elaborate on 1989's Decree 55 which prevented "all print projects in Arabic printed in the free zone from local distribution", banning as well the publication of any kind in any language in free trade zones in Egypt.
"This entire issue, of course, goes back to the El-Destour case," said the syndicate's Mansour. In late February 1997, the weekly independent El-Destour was abruptly shut down, the alleged cause being its publication of a Gama'a Islamiya threat to Coptic businessman Naguib Sawiris.
This was followed by a series of crackdowns, including the unprecedented jailing of three journalists on libel charges. "The legal restrictions were a clear response to what was perceived as a lack of control over the press," Mansour said. "But how will society ever change and evolve if people are not given the right to freely express themselves? That, after all is how growth occurs."
The current decision to allow foreign- licensed publications to print in Egypt comes with its own rigid guidelines: they must publish no less than 5,000 copies and no more than 25,000; they must adhere to the 36 per cent taxation on advertisements regulation; they must commit to a minimum six-month contract with the print shop; and they must provide documentation as to their funding source -- which may not be foreign.
The publication could also be subjected to government price controls in order to ensure that it is significantly more expensive than its local counterparts.
"This is what I call cosmetic reform," said Hisham Kassem, publisher of the English-language weekly Cairo Times. "We are producing publications in our home country, for our own people -- it's about time we are allowed to print them here too."
Kassem said, however, that, "on principle, I will not [print in Egypt]. This is about my rights as a citizen -- to be granted a licence in my own country. Why should we have to go and beg other countries for something that our own country could just as well give us?"
Although many high-tech printing facilities are anticipating the possible financial gains (some have even begun negotiating with publishers), many media commentators worried that the change reflected more window dressing than any real forward momentum towards a freer press climate.
"We're a country of 70 million people," said Mansour. "We should have the right to an equally expansive selection of local publications to cater to all of society's levels, spheres and needs."
