4 journalists jailed in Egypt

Four members of the Rassd News Network were sentenced to between one to three years in prison while a fifth journalist was acquitted, an Egyptian military court ruled yesterday.

The five defendants, who work for the Rassd electronic newsletter, had been referred to the military court in Nasr City, Cairo, on charges of “leaking military secrets”. Rassd made headlines after publishing videos of Egypt’s former Defence Minister Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during his meeting with army officers.

The defendants’ lawyer Ahmed Helmy yesterday said: “The military court sentenced Islam Al-Homsi to one year in prison and Private Mohammed Abdel Moneim to three years in prison. The court also sentenced in absentia Amr Farrag and Omar Shahin to three years in prison and acquitted Amr Salama Qazzaa.”

Helmy said the defence team will appeal the verdicts.

Source: Al-Sharq