Thursday’s press shows conflicting reports about the future of journalists convicted of libel and defamation in the Muslim Brotherhood-led political order.
The mouthpiece newspaper of the nation’s de facto rulers, Freedom and Justice, says that the new constitution is set to prohibit jail sentences for journalists. The paper quotes Wahid Abdel Meguid, the official spokesperson of the Constituent Assembly, as saying that the assembly has dropped an initial suggestion to include an article stipulating that journalists would be jailed if they were convicted of libelous or defamatory reporting, fomenting hate, or damaging people’s sexual lives.
The constitution’s architects adopted a new article stating clearly that journalists cannot be jailed for any press crime, according to Abdel Meguid, as quoted in the Muslim Brotherhood’s daily. All suggested clauses are to be discussed in the assembly’s general committee before they are set for public referendum. Hence, further changes could be incorporated.
Meanwhile, the privately owned Al-Shorouk daily quotes President Mohamed Morsy’s justice minister as ruling out the possibility that jail sentences would no longer apply to press crimes. Ahmed Mekky told the paper: “I dreamt of abolishing jail sentences for journalists and limiting [punishment] to fines and moral sanctions imposed by the syndicate, which include barring journalists from the practice and dismissing them from the syndicate. However, these sanctions are not enough to reform the press.” According to Al-Shorouk, Mekky is immersed in hammering out the details of a new press law that “would prevent the press from lying.”
“It is too early to realize the dream of prohibiting jail sentences for press crimes. The press lies and is governed by bad faith and whims,” added Mekky in the report.
The privately owned Al-Watan newspaper leads with a headline reading that the Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau held “a secret meeting” on Tuesday to come up with a list of candidates for the president to appoint to the Shura Council. By law, the president has the right to appoint one-third of the members of the Parliament’s upper house. At the same meeting, the Brothers came up with another list of people for Morsy to hire as members of the National Council for Human Rights.
As benign as it may sound, this piece of news attributed to anonymous sources hits a sensitive nerve with many readers who doubt Morsy’s independence from the Brotherhood. While Morsy’s presidential team always claims that his decisions are made independently from his religio-political organization, such news refutes the purported autonomy of Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
Meanwhile, the state-owned press is concerned with singing the praises of Morsy’s visit to China. Both Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar lead with headlines claiming that Morsy succeeded in convincing the Chinese to invest US$6 billion in Egypt. Like in the old days of Hosni Mubarak, Al-Ahram’s front page leads with a medium-size photo of Morsy holding talks with the Chinese prime minister.
The paper goes on to quote Hassan Malek, a businessman and a presidential adviser, as saying that Morsy’s delegation succeeded in “signing preliminary agreements between the two countries worth $5.8 billion.” The paper does not give any further details on the timetable for injecting this money or these investments, which leaves the reader with the impression that the figures are used for sheer propaganda purposes.
On another front, Thursday’s papers highlight the ongoing debate over the new government-sponsored emergency bill. The justice minister recently announced that he is drafting a new emergency law to replace the notorious one used frequently during the Mubarak regime. The announcement has elicited an uncomfortable stir among human rights activists and liberals.
Many suspect that Morsy is seeking to consolidate power by reactivating a new version of the exceptional law. Al-Akhbar newspaper quotes Mohamed Mahsoub Abdel Meguid, parliamentary affairs minister, as saying that the old law would be amended so that human rights, liberties and the judiciary would be respected even if a state of emergency were declared and the new emergency law were enforced. He added that the law might not be enforced nationwide but in certain areas according to need. Yet, these assurances have failed to convince liberal politicians like Amr Hamzawy.
The former MP has a column in today’s Al-Watan newspaper raising suspicion over the timing of bringing up this issue and expressing his opposition to the content of the government-suggested bill. Hamzawy contends that there is no need to discuss this new legislation now that there is no Parliament.
"It is hard to understand why President Morsy and his government insists on issuing a new emergency law before the constitution is finished and before [a new] Parliament is elected," wonders Hamzawy. Meanwhile, Hamzawy dismisses the bill for its inclusion of clauses that give the president "sweeping and dangerous powers" and "overturn a lot of rights and liberties."
Hamzawy concludes: "The bill brings back exceptional courts under the name of emergency and military tribunals. This is a dangerous infringement on values of democracy and the rule of law."
Egypt’s papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Youm7: Daily, privately owned
Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned
Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party
Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party
