A Cairo court sentenced prominent journalist Salama Ahmed Salama, chief editor of independent daily Al-Shorouq, along with another reporter from the same newspaper, to one year each in prison on Tuesday. Both men were tried in absentia.
The lawsuit was initially filed by Ali el-Naggar, an architect working for Sabbour Consultants, who accused Salama of defamation for claiming in a 30 March article that he had been bribed by businessman Ahmed Omar for a lucrative construction contract.
Press Syndicate President Makram Ahmed offered to mediate between the two men in an effort to amicably resolve the difference. Ahmed, however, noted that responsibility generally lies with the reporter in such cases and not with a newspaper’s chief editor.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
