CAIRO: Egyptian journalists still encounter laws restricting their freedom of speech and expression, despite considerable progress in allowing a wider margin of freedom, said a recent report. On the other hand, imprisonment in publishing cases remains a deterrent due to unfulfilled promises to cancel this penalty, the report noted. At a press conference held Tuesday, the Federation of Arab Journalists launched a report titled “Press Freedom in the Arab World in 2009.” Prepared by the Federation's permanent freedoms committee, the 117-page report evaluated the state of press freedom in all Arab countries except Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. According to the Federation's secretary general Makram Mohamed Ahmed, the unions of the two Arab countries did not manage to send their reports on time to be included in the final report, which is based on a collection of surveys as well as separate reports conducted by the chairmen and freedom committees of Arab Journalists' Syndicates and Unions. The report highlighted several violations committed against Arab journalists in 2009. “Earlier surveys did not offer a clear image of the situation….[but] this year's presented the closest reflection of the truth of the situation of Arab journalists,” Ahmed, also the chairman of Egypt's Journalists' Syndicate, added. Ahmed criticized international reports on the press freedom in Arab countries. “In most cases, international reports depend on a single source…mainly the opposition…without [assessing] the general trends. Ours is based on both aspects,” he argued. Even though there are 32 Egyptian laws that impose jail sentences in cases of publishing offenses, the report highlighted some positive sides. For example, restrictions on the publication of new newspapers and magazines were diminished in Egypt, the report said. However, the Egyptian press still suffers the absence of a Freedom of Information Act that would help journalists obtain data from credible sources. Moreover, Egyptian photojournalists frequently complain from the harsh treatment of police forces while covering important events, especially protests. Some of these violations included, but were not limited to, the confiscation of cameras or photos taken during the coverage. In February 2004, President Hosni Mubarak promised to abolish jail terms for journalists in publishing cases. However, the promise has yet to see the light. Since then several journalists have been taken to court and handed down prison sentences, though many of them were suspended and instead journalists were ordered to pay fines. Every year the courts look into about 400 press-related lawsuits, mostly defamation cases, against journalists who work for national newspapers and a higher number of lawsuits against reporters at independent and opposition publications, the report said. Most of the lawsuits, the report added, were filed by businessmen and government officials. Some also filed lawsuits against writers who expressed certain ideas; among them was the case against writer and university professor Gaber Asfour who published an opinion article accusing some “extremist” sheikhs of stemming creativity and culture. Other obstacles facing Egyptian journalists were censorship and confiscation of newspapers, the suspension of publishing licenses, being assaulted by security forces while covering protests or elections and restrictions on acquiring syndicate membership. “The report [did not sugarcoat reality] ... as it attempted to objectively convey the truth … monitoring all violations committed against journalists in [Egypt and the rest of] the Arab World,” Ahmed said.
