Five Egyptian journalists will be brought to trial on December 4 after allegedly breaching a gag order on the trial of those accused of murdering Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, the Egyptian daily Al-Wafd reported.
The five include chief editors of Al-Wafd, an opposition newspaper, and Al-Ma’sri Al-Yawm, an independent newspaper, and three more journalists from the two dailies.
The journalists were accused of publishing statements made by a witness during the trial.
Last week, a gag order was issued regarding Tamim’s trial. The presiding judge backed his decision by arguing that public opinion was being influenced by the reporting.
Tamim was one of the biggest stars in the Middle East and North Africa with millions of records sold. Ever since her death in Dubai on July 28, her fate has been the hottest news in the region: newspapers and bloggers have been covering the events leading up to the trial in great detail and cafes have been brimming with people discussing the subject.
One of the main reasons for the massive media coverage and huge public interest is due to the two main suspects: former Egyptian police officer Muhsin A-Sukari is charged with murdering Tamim in her luxury apartment in Dubai after being paid $2 million by Egyptian construction mogul and member of parliament for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), Hisham Tal’at Mu’stafa.
Mu’stafa was arrested on September 2 after his parliamentary immunity was lifted. In addition to heading the Tal’at Mu’stafa Group, a real estate conglomerate, he is also a member of the policies secretariat of the NDP, which is headed by Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
According to media reports Mu’stafa had offered Tamim $10 million to marry him, but she refused.