Egypt: Court sentences newspaper journalist to 2 years, fines editor

An Egyptian court has sentenced journalist Mohamed Saad Khattab from Sout Al-Omma newspaper for two years with labour in absentia and fined the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Abdel Halim Qandil 20,000 Egyptian pounds (around $2,556) for insulting the Judges Club.

The Judges Club filed a complaint against Qandil and Khattab, accusing them of insulting the then head of the club Judge Ahmed Al-Zind and then-deputy head Judge Abdallah Fathi.

Al-Zind currently holds the position of minister of justice in the government headed by Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi.

Sout Al-Omma had published a story alleging that the club’s two leaders took bribes from companies contracted by the club to construct a housing project for members.