Egyptian journalist jailed after accusing businesswoman of corruption

An Egyptian misdemeanor court sentenced on Tuesday a journalist working for the Sawt Al-Oma weekly newspaper to one year in jail and an EGP 30,000 fine for accusing a businesswoman of corruption.

The court also levied a fine of EGP 10,000 for the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, renowned journalist Abdel-Halim Qandil, for negligence.

Sawt Al-Oma had published reports by journalist Mohamed Saad, against whom the jail sentence was issued, accusing businesswoman Mona Aboud of corruption in several real estate dealings.

Egypt’s House of Representatives is currently discussing the new “unified media law” which regulates media and journalism in Egypt.

The imprisonment of journalists for publishing-related crimes will be replaced with fines under the new media law.

According to the Journalists Syndicate, 32 journalists, including 14 syndicate members, are currently imprisoned, with 20 jailed in cases related to their work.

source: Ahram Online