Arab press union “shocked” by jail verdict against Egypt’s top journalist

The Cairo-based Arab Journalists Union expressed in a statement Sunday its “shock” by the recent court order to jail the chief of Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate and two other syndicate members for two years.

An Egyptian court sentenced on Saturday head of Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate Yehia Qalash and two other board members to two years in prison over sheltering two wanted journalists at the syndicate despite arrest warrants earlier in May.

The police then entered the syndicate and arrested the two journalists who were facing charges of inciting anti-government public opinion, spreading false news and urging protests against Egypt’s deal to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

The court order against Qallash and his two fellows is appealable and not final, and the three were allowed to pay a bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about 630 U.S. dollars) pending an appeal.

The Arab press union urged the Egyptian authorities to interfere to resolve the issue “and allow the Egyptian syndicate to resume its professional work of serving Egyptian journalists.”

The statement stressed support for all Arab press syndicates and unions to exercise their work in defense of freedom of opinion and expression as well as the rights of their journalists.

The Arab union also rejected as “inappropriate” the statement of Tunisia’s press syndicate to transfer the Arab union’s headquarters from Cairo due to anti-press violations in Egypt.

Source: Xinhua