Lawyer calls for closure of BBC office in Egypt

CAIRO – 24 March 2019: Lawyer at the Supreme Constitutional Court Samir Sabry filed Sunday an urgent lawsuit before the Administrative Court demanding the closure of the BBC office in Egypt over incitement against the state.

Sabry explained in his lawsuit that the BBC has incited against the Egyptian state for more than 73 years through falsifying the facts in favor of those who finance the network.

In a tripartite aggression in which Britain participated against Egypt with France and Israel, London used its media, led by the BBC, to incite against Egypt and distort the image of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser after he forced them to withdraw.

Sabri added that this channel promotes terrorist allegations that have nothing to do with reality.

On March 2018, Lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem also filed a lawsuit accused the BBC of continuously spreading fabricated news to destabilize Egypt and deliberately distorting the country’s image in terms of human rights.

On March 22, 2019, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) criticized the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for hosting Yasser al-Omda, whose name was added to Egypt's terror list in 2018, to comment on local affairs.

“The UK network has made a huge mistake,” said Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation in a statement.

Also, on April 8, 2017 the channel issued a report claiming that Egyptian citizen Zubeida Ibrahim disappeared, raising a controversy regarding alleged “enforced disappearance” systematically practiced in the country.

The Egypt State Information Service (SIS) issued a statement on the appearance of Zubeida Ibrahim on a talk show aired on ON E, criticizing the unprofessional reporting and allegations made by the English network on the situation in Egypt.

In August 2017, a student, Mohamed Magdy el-Dalaay, went missing and was thought to have been abducted by security forces but had actually joined IS according to a video of him that circulated on social media at the time.