(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is an EOHR press release: Cairo: 5/4/2000 EOHR’s Campaign for the Defence of Freedom of Opinion and Expression An Appeal to Release Al Shaab Newspaper Journalists The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) expresses its astonishment over the continued detention of journalist Magdi Ahmad Hussein, editor in chief of Al Shaab […]
(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is an EOHR press release:
Cairo: 5/4/2000
EOHR’s Campaign for the Defence of Freedom of Opinion and Expression
An Appeal to Release Al Shaab Newspaper Journalists
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) expresses its astonishment over the continued detention of journalist Magdi Ahmad Hussein, editor in chief of Al Shaab newspaper and member of the Press Union Council, Salah Bedeoui, an editor with the same paper, and Essam Hanafi, cartoonist. The three were detained in the transfer prison in the Khalifa district of Cairo, despite the fact that they have filed an opposition request against the verdict by the Cairo Criminal Court in its 1/4/2000 session. The opposition request is the same as the appeal except for the absence of the charges, in which case the appeal does not directly challenge the verdict but rather annuls it. The verdict on the 1st of April sentenced Magdi Hussein and Salah Bedeoui to two years with hard labor and a L.E 20,000 fine while cartoonist Essam Hanafi ended up with one year of hard labor and a fine of L.E 20,000.
The journalists filed the opposition request a day after the announcement of the verdict, which was issued in the absence of the defendants, who did not show up for that session or the one that preceded it. The request was accepted, and the court designated a session on the 8th of April for the request to be deliberated. It is known that accepting the request means that the verdict is automatically annulled as if it were not issued, which results in the immediate release of the detained. However, according to the information received by EOHR, the journalists remained detained by the police since they were first taken to prison shortly after the issuance of the first verdict on the 1st of April, and remain there as of today. The police described their detention as a police procedure. EOHR believes that it violates Article 401 of the Procedural Code which states: “the reconsideration of the lawsuit by the court that has issued the verdict in absentia is a consequence of the opposition request. And, the party that filed the opposition request should not be harmed as a result of his opposition request”.
EOHR expresses its astonishment over the continued detention of the journalists without any legal support and with the police’s full knowledge. The organisation calls on Mr. Maher Abdel Wahid, the prosecutor general, to quickly intercede to release the Shaab journalists in a correct application of the law.
