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Coronavirus leads to violations of media freedoms in Egypt

April 2, 2020 at 1:32 pm

Newspapers are on sale at a book market at in Cairo, Egypt on 16 January 2019 [MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images]

Thirty-nine violations against media freedoms were documented in Egypt in March, the Arab Observatory for Media Freedom reported yesterday.

The majority of the cases, the organisation said, related to information about the coronavirus.

The violations were registered against Egyptian and foreign journalists and included blackouts of websites and social media pages.

Some 17 offences were committed by courts and public prosecutors, seven detentions, six blackouts of websites and three arbitrary administrative decisions.

READ: Egypt’s COVID-19 response delayed, trains remain overcrowded

Since Egypt’s operation room to tackle the coronavirus was established official confirmed cases of the deadly illness have risen from 15 to over 779 and there are cases in 25 of 27 governorates.

However, Canadian researchers estimate there to be over 19,000 cases in Egypt amid allegations of a government cover-up.