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Fines, not jail

THE AGOUZA Appeals Court scrapped a one-year jail sentence imposed on four journalists and instead fined each one LE20,000. The four comprise Ibrahim Eissa, chief editor of the independent daily Al-Dostour, Abdel-Halim Qandil, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Sawt Al-Umma, Wael El-Ibrashi, former chief editor of Sawt Al-Umma, and Adel Hammouda, chief editor of Al-Fagr. They had been accused of "harming public interest" after publishing what was described as false information and libelling leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party.

They were sentenced to one-year in jail in September 2007 by a lower court, but were released on bail pending an appeal.

The ruling was welcomed by journalists and observers. Supporters said the scrapping of the jail sentence was a sign that the government would eventually reverse custodial sentences for publication offences, while organisations such as the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said punishing the journalists represented a "black stain" which aimed at "silencing the independent press".

Government in charge

THE SUPREME Administrative Court has scrapped a lower court ruling prohibiting the export of natural gas to Israel, saying that the government, as an executive power, was entitled to make its own decisions concerning the selling of natural gas. Other controversial rulings passed on Monday scrapped an earlier ruling prohibiting university security, while a third stipulated that humanitarian aid to Gaza should be delivered only through legal channels, saying it was necessary to respect the sovereignty of the country over its borders.

Trial for crossing border

EGYPTIAN authorities sent a leading Islamist politician to military trial on Tuesday on charges of crossing into Gaza through a border tunnel last month. Magdi Ahmed Hussein, who was secretary-general of the Labour Party, was arrested on Saturday when he returned to Egypt through the official border crossing.

Hussein was questioned by military prosecutors in the North Sinai town of Arish and will go on trial in the Suez Canal town of Ismailia on Thursday, the judicial sources said.

Hussein's wife, Nagla El-Qalyoubi, said he had gone to Gaza to show solidarity with the Palestinian people after three weeks of Israeli attacks which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

"Hussein stayed in Gaza for one week, where he met prominent people including senior members of Hamas, which controls the territory," El-Qalyoubi said.

Hussein will be the best known civilian to face military trial in Egypt since the trial of 40 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood ended in April and the most prominent person to face trial in connection with the tunnels dug between Gaza and Egypt. Twenty-five of those Islamists, including third-in-command Khairat El-Shater, received jail terms of up to 10 years.

Rights groups say the Egyptian authorities should not send civilians to military courts, where defendants have fewer protections and no right of appeal.

The tunnels carry people and goods into Gaza, circumventing the blockade imposed by Israel with the help of the Egyptian government. Israel says they also carry weapons, and has attacked them both during and since its Gaza offensive, which ended with a ceasefire that took effect on 18 January.