New group of El-Sharq’s staff members resign after Nour’s threats

CAIRO – 6 March 2018: The crisis of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood TV channel El-Sharq escalated after a new group of staff members resigned as an answer to the threats of Ayman Nour, the owner of the channel, using his body guards.

Nour accused the workers, who tried to organize a sit-in front of the channel’s headquarters, of attempting to break into the headquarters of the channel.

Nour was accused by the channel’s staff and general assembly of “robbing” their financial dues and concealing the channel’s budget.

The channel’s staff created a Facebook page to publicly spread their demands as the foundation slowly tumbles while exposing itself, along with the people behind it.

The channel’s board of directors issued a statement on Jan.15 saying the channel’s staff did not demand anything but justice, human dignity and a professional administration that helps smoothing the path for opposing the regime.
A previous statement issued by the channel’s workers revealed details of scams that the channel’s owner, Ayman Nour, is involved in.

The statement said he purchased rickety devices for the channel while stealing the funding provided by the Muslim Brotherhood and some other foreign organizations.

It further stressed that the channel is not financially incapable; however, it suffers a case of corruption as about half of what it receives from sponsors and supporters is stolen.

The statement also added that the continuous electricity outages, screens going off, and air conditioners breaking, is not because of a financial crisis, but because the equipment and devices that were purchased are all used and ramshackle.

“We were not lying when we spoke of our colleague who was ordered to clean the channel owner’s apartment, and we were not faking it when we spoke of another one who has been working for four months under claims that he is a ‘trainee’,” the statement said.

“We were only saying the truth, and we have proofs of the pressure and terror that is being practiced over young people by those who have no mercy or manners.”

Workers were infuriated when Nour announced that he was establishing a new channel, as they were not receiving their financial dues in the first place and Nour evidently had the money to establish a new channel; therefore, the workers decided to create a committee to sue Nour.

Reliable sources at the channel told Egypt Today that Nour threatened workers that he was going to shut the channel down in an attempt to force them into accepting the decisions he had recently announced. Around 60 workers refused the decisions.

The sources added that Nour convinced the Brotherhood to support him in the Sharq crisis just to preserve his image before Qatari sponsors.