Tahrir website chief editor released on bail

CAIRO – 30 April 2018: The chief editor of Tahrir News website, Mohamed Fawzy, was released on bail for LE 5,000 ($283) on Saturday, following many hours of interrogation over accusations including insulting the judiciary and obstructing justice.

Fawzy was interrogated over a report published on the Tahrir News website accusing members of the judiciary of different crimes, according to a source at the website. Fawzy wrote on his Facebook page that he was released after five hours of interrogation.



In May 2017, state-owned Al-Gomhorreya newspaper’s chief editor, Fahmi Enaba, was interrogated after an article was published in the newspaper, which, according to the prosecution, insulted the general prosecution and the judiciary.

Tarek Al-Adwar, head of the newspaper’s sports section, was also called for interrogation after he published an article titled “Aboutrika is not a terrorist”. Adwar was interrogated over accusations of insulting the judiciary.

In January 2017, Egyptian footballer Aboutrika was placed on the terrorist list for alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the state designated a terrorist organization in late 2013.

In April, security forces raided the office of the Masr Al-Arabiya news website in the Dokki district of Giza, closed the office and arrested the website’s editor-in-chief, Adel Sabry. The Dokki prosecution ordered the detention of Sabry over allegations of joining a terrorist group, publishing false news and managing an unlicensed news website.

The incident came two days after Egypt's state-run Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) announced imposing a fine of LE 50,000 on the website for republishing a New York Times report of alleged violations during the 2018 presidential election.

Independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm was also fined LE 150,000 for publishing an article that discussed how state institutions interfered in the 2018 presidential election.

In May 2017, the Egyptian authorities decided to ban 21 news websites, including Masr Al-Arabiya and Qatari-based Al-Jazeera, for "supporting terrorism and publishing fake news."