Update Egypt: Eight further charges against Egyptian editor announced in court on day of scheduled trial; case adjourned for three weeks

The case against Mr. Ibrahim Issa, editor-in-chief of Al-Dustour newspaper, scheduled to be heard on October 1st has been adjourned to October 24th. Mr. Issa has been charged with publishing reports “likely to disturb public security and damage the public interest” in respect of articles published in Al-Dustur about President Mubarak’s health problems.

On October 1st, the court announced that an additional eight sets of proceedings have been filed against Mr. Issa for his report on the President’s health, in addition to the initial charge by the state security prosecutor-general. It has been reported that 7 of these 8 sets of proceedings have been initiated by lawyers who are either members of the ruling party or who have close ties with the ruling party. The remaining set of proceedings is reported to have been initiated by a group of lawyers who attended the trial of Mr. Ayman Noor, a high-profile prisoner of conscience, and attempted to defame his reputation during his trial.

ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship are also greatly concerned by the massive police presence at the court on the day of Mr. Issa’s scheduled hearing at Boulaq Partial Crime Court on October 1st, including a number of high-ranking officials from the Egyptian Security Service. It has been reported that many people were excluded from the court building, including Mr. Issa’s defence counsel, thus violating his right to a fair trial.

ARTICLE19 and Index on Censorship issued a press release on September 24th , condemning the recent spate of prosecutions of independent media professionals in Egypt, including the charge against Mr. Issa, and are calling upon the Egyptian government to urgently improve protection of freedom of the press.

You can view the ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship’s joint press release at:
http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/egypt-media.pdf