clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Al-Mesryoon newspaper officially included to Egypt's Akhbar El Yom Foundation

September 25, 2018 at 2:24 am

Al-Mesryoon newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief Gamal Sultan has been harassed by Egyptian officials. [Almesryoon]

The Inventory, Seizure and Management Committee of Terrorist Groups Funds in Egypt issued a decision to place the independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Mesryoon at the disposal of governmental Akhbar El Yom Foundation.

The decision came few hours after an armed security force stormed the headquarters of the private newspaper in central Cairo, detained its employees and journalists, confiscated their phones, and closed their social media accounts.

Mada Masr website quoted one of the interested lawyers, Noor Fahmy, as saying that a committee from Akhbar El Yom Foundation held a meeting with the employees and journalists and informed them of the decision to place the newspaper at the disposal of the governmental institution. The committee also told them about the newspaper’s new publishing policies after this situation.

Read: Egyptian court sentences Muslim Brotherhood leader to life in prison

Akhbar El Yom already runs Al-Borsa News newspaper and Daily News website, which the authorities held for months, on charges of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Head and General Manager of Akhbar El Yom, Ahmed Galal, confirmed this news and said that his foundation is currently reviewing all Al-Mesryoon’s administrative matters and website, explaining that the newspaper’s journalists and employees will not be fired.

Minutes after the authorities’ security storming of the newspaper’s headquarters, Gamal Sultan, Head of Al-Mesryoon’s Board of Directors wrote via his Twitter account: “The most important lesson to be retained: It is very dangerous in Egypt to criticise the UAE or to oppose its policies via an Egyptian newspaper or on your Twitter account.”

Freedom of press in Egypt - Cartoon [Latuff/MiddleEastMonitor]

Freedom of press in Egypt – Cartoon [Latuff/MiddleEastMonitor]