Under the auspices of Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, Al-Ahram this week celebrated World Press Freedom Day, which takes place on 3 May each year. The celebration was attended by eminent media figures as well as veteran journalists. During the celebration, attended by the chairman of Al-Ahram Ahmed Al-Naggar, several journalists were honoured. However, while the country was celebrating the occasion, several national and international organisations painted a gloomy picture of the freedom of the press and the media in Egypt. Several reports have listed violations and challenges facing the press and media in the country, with the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), an NGO, issuing its annual report on freedom of expression in which it said that in 2013 seven journalists were killed while working in Egypt. According to the AFTE, there were 134 violations against journalists in 2013, including confiscation of equipment and injuries caused by live ammunition, birdshot, rubber bullets, teargas canisters, and physical assault. These violations were carried out by armed police, civilians, thugs, and protesters. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an NGO, stated in its annual report that the death toll among journalists had risen to 10 since 2011. The latest victim was Mayada Ashraf, a journalist who worked for the Al-Dostour newspaper, who was killed while covering clashes between MB supporters and security forces last March. The AFTE report said that 29 journalists had been arrested throughout the year, with at least 10 still imprisoned. CPJ figures indicated that since July 2013, 65 had been arrested, and while 48 had been released the rest were still in jail. “The police forces raided at least 13 media organisations, including the Al-Jazeera office in Cairo,” the report read. Four Al-Jazeera satellite channel journalists are in jail, among them Mohamed Fahmi who had been granted a press freedom award before his trial on 3 May. Among the other detained journalists are Peter Greste, an Australian former BBC reporter, and local producer Baher Mohamed. They have been accused of smearing Egypt's reputation, doctoring footage and supporting terrorists. In February, Egypt ranked 159 out of 180 listed countries in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI). In 2013, the WPFI considered Egypt as one of the top ten jailors of journalists worldwide. At the same time, the CPJ ranked Egypt as the third deadliest country for journalists in 2013. Diaa Rashwan, Chairman of the Press Syndicate, said that the overall trends were negative, but this was true in other countries beside Egypt. Press freedom was under attack in Iran, Libya, Turkey, South Sudan, and North Korea as well, he said. “This will change soon in Egypt. The new constitution guarantees freedom of the press in Egypt as it widens the margin of freedom of expression which was tight during Islamist rule,” he added. According to Rashwan, the freedom and independence of the press, publishing and expression of opinion are guaranteed by the new constitution. Yet, the government is facing the challenge of coping with a media environment which is much harder to control than in the pre-Internet age. “The abolition of imprisonment in cases relating to publication and the right to publish newspapers after proper notification are among the rights provided to journalists in the new constitution,” Rashwan added. Meanwhile, Salah Eissa, a member of the Supreme Press Council (SPC), said that there was a new emphasis on the media during the clashes and conflicts in Egypt. “When former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi came to power, the state and private media were driven into adversarial Islamist and non-Islamist camps, to the detriment of journalistic integrity and objectivity,” Eissa said, adding that this kind of polarisation had been seen for decades. “With the advent of the new president and the enforcement of the new constitution which guarantees the freedom of the press and expression, I hope the grim press environment will improve,” he added. Although the new constitution included some encouraging provisions, the penal code and press laws had not changed. “They include several articles that allow journalists to be prosecuted for their reporting. We are working on changing these articles and hope they will be changed soon. There should not be a systematic crackdown and suppression of the media,” he said. He added that what was needed was the political will to reinforce press and media freedom and in general to protect the country's media.
