The news director of Egypt's state-owned television organisation pleaded his innocence at the opening session of his trial fors charges of accepting bribes, he also implored journalists not to smear his reputation ahead of a ruling On Sunday, the Bab Al-Khalq State Security Court in downtown Cairo started the trial of , the news director of Egypt's state-owned television apparatus, on charges of bribery, reports Jailan Halawi. El-Wakil, who has headed the Egyptian Radio and Television Union's (ERTU) news sector since 1998, was arrested in July in a sting operation conducted by State Security officials and the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), which is in charge of investigating allegations of official impropriety. According to police reports, El- Wakil was arrested at his office soon after allegedly receiving a LE10,000 bribe in exchange for featuring a medical doctor as a guest on Sabah Al-Kheir ya Masr (Good Morning Egypt) -- a popular morning show. Two of the show's producers, Ahmed El- Hassisi, a university professor, and Hani Abdel-Latif, were also arrested and are being tried. During interrogation, a fourth suspect was added to the case, medical doctor Fakher El-Guindi, who reportedly paid LE3,500 in return for appearing on the morning TV show as well. Abdel-Latif was the first suspect to be arrested in the case, allegedly when he picked up the bribe money from Mohamed Fathi, a hospital administrator, who had filed a complaint with ACA saying that he had been solicited to pay a bribe in return for appearing on the show. Abdel-Latif then led investigators to El-Hassisi, who was arrested receiving the money from him. The police subsequently escorted El- Hassisi to the television building, and arrested El-Wakil soon after El- Hassisi handed the money over to him. Authorities filmed the final hand-over and arrest. Moreover, ACA tapped El-Wakil's phone after receiving the bribery-soliciting complaint from Fathi. Following his arrest, El-Wakil was suspended from his job after serving 30 years at the state television organisation, and a new head of TV news was appointed by the minister of information. A few hours before the trial began, the suspects appeared in the courtroom amidst a crowd of journalists and family members. While being escorted by policemen to the caged dock, El-Wakil's three daughters burst in tears at the sight of their father in handcuffs, which in turn brought tears to El-Wakil's eyes. Talking to reporters from behind bars, El-Wakil spoke of his professional achievements, asserting that throughout his career his professional conduct was impeccable and that he had never done anything that contravened journalistic ethics. He said that during his tenure, the news division improved tremendously. He further implied that the case against him was mounted because he continually fought for greater freedom for TV news programmes. In this respect, El-Wakil said that Egypt's most popular TV show, Ra'is Al-Tahrir (Editor-in-Chief), which is presented by Hamdi Qandil -- a strong critic of government policies -- was given more air time during his four years in the news division. Tearful, El-Wakil also called on journalists to have mercy on his family and to halt the "smear campaign" until the court rules in his case, assuring that he has faith that justice will prevail. After the prosecutor read the charges, El-Wakil pleaded not guilty. Likewise, El-Guindi pleaded his innocence, saying that he did not pay to appear on Good Morning Egypt. Nevertheless, the show's two producers, El-Hassisi and Abdel-Latif, pleaded guilty to the charges of mediating the delivery of the bribe. El-Wakil is also charged with possession of seven grammes of hashish seized by police in a search of his office during the bribery investigation. He also pleaded not guilty to that charge, saying that he had never smoked in his entire life. Meanwhile, the court denied a request by El-Hassisi's lawyer that his client should be acquitted for providing evidence in the case. During the second hearing yesterday the court viewed the prosecutor's video tapes.
