An Egyptian court has sentenced an editor, a journalist and another civilian to a year in prison for publishing a report critical of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his family and other senior officials.
Ibrahim ‘Issa, the editor of the independent weekly A-Dustour, and Sahar Zaki, a journalist who writes for the paper, will spend one year in prison for reporting in April 2005 that an Egyptian lawyer was suing Mubarak, et. al, on allegations of corruption. The lawyer, Sa’id ‘Abdallah, was also sent to jail for a year. The journalists are free on bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,700), pending appeal.
The charge for which they were found guilty is insulting the president and spreading propaganda that can disturb public security.
Press freedom organizations have condemned the decision, which they say demonstrates Cairo’s intolerance of independent journalism.
Mubarak pledged two years ago to stop imprisoning journalists for what they publish. But journalists are still being put on trial and imprisoned for criticizing the government.
Egyptian government officials met with members of the Egyptian Union of Journalists on Monday, to discuss a bill that will prohibit prison sentences for journalists for the content they publish, the London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented cases of at least two other journalists sentenced to jail in 2006 on grounds of defamation.