(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is a 5 July 2003 EOHR press release: Security Authorities Ban an Edition of Egyptian Newspaper El-Sadaa Without a Court Order The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) was deeply concerned when it received information that the last issue of the Egyptian weekly newspaper El-Sadaa, of the El-Takaful political party, was […]
(EOHR/IFEX) – The following is a 5 July 2003 EOHR press release:
Security Authorities Ban an Edition of Egyptian Newspaper El-Sadaa Without a Court Order
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) was deeply concerned when it received information that the last issue of the Egyptian weekly newspaper El-Sadaa, of the El-Takaful political party, was banned from being issued on July 2, 2003. According to a statement issued by the newspaper, Chairman of the Board and Secretary General of El-Takaful Mr. Esam Abdel Razek was summoned before security authorities and informed that there were security concerns regarding not only the editorial policies of the newspaper, but also the personality of the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Mr. Yasser Barakat.
EOHR was told by the editor-in-chief and the secretary general of the newspaper in a telephone call that this is the first time that the newspaper has faced such treatment by security bodies. Nineteen issues have been released without incident since the newspaper released its first issue on February 26, 2003.
EOHR reaffirms its stance against any interference by administrative and security bodies in the affairs of media agencies and political parties, and calls upon the Egyptian authorities to investigate this incident. EOHR considers such forms of interference to be a blatant violation of freedom of the press and the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Also, it is evidence of interference in the affairs of political parties, a clear breach of the Egyptian Constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, to which Egypt is a party.
