A court prosecutor had called for a 15-year jail sentence for Allam Abdel Ghaffar, though he was never given a chance to defend himself in court.
(RSF/IFEX) – Paris, 25 November 2010 – Reporters Without Borders hails the decision by a criminal court in the Cairo suburb of Gizeh on 21 November to acquit Allam Abdel Ghaffar, a reporter for the daily Youm7, of charges of disseminating false information and forging documents.
At a hearing on 24 October, the court’s prosecutor had called for 15-year jail sentence for Ghaffar, who was never given a chance to defend himself in court.
Reporters Without Borders sent an open letter to justice minister Mamdouh Mohhieddeen Mari on 27 October describing the charges as baseless and the sentence as disproportionate, and calling for the charges to be withdrawn.
