Journalistic freedoms in Egypt over two eras

Many of my colleagues and other political prisoners found in the ill-reputed Aqrab prison are currently waging a war from within the heart of the prion to protest against the harsh conditions and the slow death policy practiced by the Egyptian regime against its political opponents. The war is being led by hundreds of prisoners who stand in opposition to the military coup that took place in Egypt. The movement is being led by Abdullah Al-Shami and Mohamed Soltan, who survived despite the odds and thanks to God’s grace and will to keep them safe.

Yet, the success of both Al-Shami and Soltan is not due merely to their legendary steadfastness, which has gone down as a great example of journalistic protest, but also must be attributed to a great deal of media support from Al Jazeera for whom Al-Shami works. Not to mention, the American support for Soltan who holds dual US-Egyptian nationalities.

We discuss this in order to support our journalist friends and those in the media who have been languishing in the regime’s prisons for more than two and a half years. Among them is Mohsen Radi MP, Ahmed Hussein the cultural representative in the constituent assembly, the leader of the Istiqlal party Magdy Ahmed Hussein, the president of Al-Shaab newspaper, the editor of Al-Yawm Al-Sabi Hani Salah Al-Din, the journalist Ibrahim Al-Duari and Ahmed Subai, the director of the Aqsa television channel in Cairo.

There is also Amro Khafif, the secretary of the first ministry of information, and the first president of the engineering branch union for media and television, Husssein Qabbani, a journalist in the Karama newspaper, and the three editors of Rassd: Samhi Mustafa, Abdullah Al-Fakharani and Mohmmad Al-Adel. Not to mention, Mused Al-Barbari, the director of Ahrar 25, journalist Walid Al-Shalabi and finally Hisham Jaafar the president of the Mada Institution for Media Development.

These are but a few names of the tens of other journalists and media figures that are also languishing in Egyptian jails. There are many other journalists who do not belong to any unions or any major networks like Al Jazeera to defend them. Therefore we call on the world to make the conscious effort to defend these journalists and prevent them from being thrown into the regime’s bloody and fascist prisons.

A few days ago, the Egyptian press syndicate released a report in which they declared that they would be working with five human rights organisations and issue a yearly report that highlights the reality of the freedom of the press in Egypt. In truth, journalism has become a risky business that is punishable by imprisonment. The report also stated that nearly 782 violations were carried out against journalists in 2015 alone. The nature of the violations spanned from temporary detention to political arrests, not to mention of course a great deal of physical abuse that these journalists face and the destruction of their equipment.

The report also stated that nearly 12 journalists were prohibited from writing in a number of publications and newspapers while other publications were banned from printing all together after discussing issues that related to the presidency, the republic, the interior ministry and several other state institutions.

In addition, the regime also banned the continued publication of some newspapers that touched on topics regarding several sides within the government. In fact, one of these newspapers recently published a report saying the state failed to supply its employees with income tax revenues, which in turn deprived the country of eight billion Egyptian pounds ($1.02 billion)! The report also highlighted the return of censor to the Egyptian press though President Sadat annulled the state censor 40 years ago. The return to military rule is the reason behind its revival.

The report also claimed that 60 Egyptian journalists, from both within and outside the syndicate, are currently affected by the censor and that the number is expected to rise to 100 soon, which would confirm that Egypt is it once again functioning in an era of authoritarian regime that runs on oppression and the deprivation of rights.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has placed Egypt in second place, right after China, as among the top ten worst countries in which to practice journalism in 2015. The report was issued at the end of December and highlighted the number or journalists that are jailed in each of the countries per annum.

Although China currently holds the number one slot, according to the committee’s report, there were only 49 journalists in China’s prisons last year; whereas Egypt is said to have imprisoned 23 journalists, we can still argue that the latter is still the worst place for a journalist post-coup. This claim is not only true within the last year but within the last three years since the July 2013 coup. There are nearly 100 journalists languishing in Egypt’s prisons today and some of them have been sentenced to life imprisonment or to the death penalty, while others have been sentenced to solitary confinement or other severe punishments by the military courts that were established after the coup.

Egypt’s military courts are not lazy in any sense of the word when it comes to issuing these sentences as we have seen in their verdict that sentenced the country’s democratically elected President, Dr Mohamed Morsi, as well as many other ministers, MPs, academics and students. There are nearly 5,000 of these individuals in the regime’s numerous prisons.

If we were to compare the number of journalists imprisoned in China, as outlined in the committee’s report, to the 220,000 journalists found in the country on the whole, in addition to its population of 200 million, with the number of journalists found in Egypt, which allegedly amounts to 60 journalists held in jail of the 80,000 working in the country (in a population of 90 million), then we can conclude that military Egypt has the number one spot.

Moreover, what caught my attention even more was the manner in which the report flirted with the image of the regime by daring to compare the current rule with Morsi’s reign of less than a year and Mubarak’s 30 year rule. The introduction of the report presented the information in the following manner: “After two big revolutions on 25 January 2011 and 30 July 2013, and after the fall of two presidents due to their lack of commitment to the Egyptian people’s rights, journalists in Egypt are continuously exposed to many challenges and human rights violations. The current state powers are dealing with journalists by preventing them from delivering the reality of the news on the ground to the republic!”

Such claims can be refuted by the reality of the situation and by the stances of neutral organisations that once claimed that in 2012 (Morsi’s time) there was not a single journalist in prison. And yet, much of the destruction and violations that we are currently witnessing have taken place after the coup of 2013. The post-coup regime is also guilty of killing many journalists and activists in that year.

Suffice it to say that the Giza Criminal Court ruled in favour of imprisoning Islam Afifi, the editor of the Dustour newspaper in August of 2012, who at the time had published many insulting things about the president, including the false claim that he sold land in the Sinai to Palestinians. Despite this, Morsi was dedicated to protecting the rights of journalists. With the cooperation of Minister Ahmed Mekki, Morsi was able to issue the decree within the same day and prevented Afifi from going to jail. This was one of the first laws passed by President Morsi after he received executive power after the constitution of 11 August 2012, which later led to his demise by the military forces and their courts.

On 11 April 2013, when it was reported that the Department of Legal Affairs had plans to imprison several journalists including Bassem Youssef, Gamal Fahmy and Gaber Armouti, the president asked them to withdraw these warrants and said: “I do not want any journalists imprisoned during my time in office.” Indeed, not a single journalist was imprisoned during the year that Morsi was in power and no pen was broken. No newspaper was suspended and no news channel frozen. No programme was prohibited and no public opinion was oppressed. Morsi’s short time was a time of salvation for the opposition.

In Morsi’s time, the government issued licenses for 59 newspapers and magazines, 23 television channels, and the media experienced a shift from one party to a multi-party and multi-sectarian platform giving a voice to all people. What is the case now?

I suspect that what human rights organisations are now documenting is just the tip of the iceberg for repression and restrictions on journalists and the media. I invite everyone to stand next to my colleagues and to invite them to defend their rights in the face of state and military oppression.

Translated from Al Jazeera, 24 February 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.