A report issued by the Higher Press Council raises questions over what is acceptable when it comes to criticising the state, reports Mohamed El-Sayed Following their successful campaign to annul several articles contained in last month's draft press law, journalists now face a barrage of criticisms levelled by the state-controlled Higher Press Council which, in a report published last week, called on the Press Syndicate to intervene to end "improper journalistic practices slandering the president of the republic". In assessing the performance of newspapers between 15 June and 15 August, the report cited an increasing number of incidents in which the president had been slandered or libelled "in a manner that undermines the values and ethics of society". Prepared by a committee of media experts and university professors who monitored newspapers over the two- month period, the report has been sent to all editors-in-chief as well as the Press Syndicate. It singles out a number of incidents, many involving Al-Karama newspaper, an independent weekly which, according to the report, repeatedly used "improper language" when speaking about the president. "The constitution protects the right to criticise the policies of the president of the republic. Such criticism, though, must be done in a respectful, proper way," the report stressed. The report identified a growing trend to insult the president. Among the examples cited were several headlines from Al-Karama, including: "Mubarak leads the ten people who will be consigned to hell", "Who betrays Egypt?" and "God curses those who elect a pilot for president." The report concluded that the Higher Press Council "has a key role in fighting the negative phenomena that arise during periods of political transition, especially at a time when press freedom is growing and increasing numbers of publications are appearing on the newsstands". The report said the council plans to set up a committee to "work towards putting an end to these transgressions". It also called on the Press Syndicate to intervene to end such practices. The Press Syndicate is still reviewing the report. "The syndicate's board will discuss the report in detail next week," said Press Syndicate secretary Yehya Qallash. "It will examine all the incidents mentioned in the report before deciding whether or not there has been any violation of the journalistic code of practice." The editor-in-chief of Al-Karama, he continued, had been informed of the contents of the report and already replied to the criticisms which will be discussed in next week's board meeting. Hamdeen Sabahi -- who is also an MP and head of the as yet unlicensed Al-Karama Party -- told Al-Ahram Weekly that despite the criticisms levelled against his newspaper it still "reserved the right to criticise the president in whatever ways it thought appropriate. The president has so much authority that neither the People's Assembly nor the Shura Council can criticise him, that job is left up to the press." "The report doesn't detail any clear- cut rules for the kind of criticism the press might engage in," said Sabahi. "While I would concede that mistakes have been made they are a result of the unaccustomed freedom currently enjoyed by the press." Sabahi called on the Higher Press Council "not to adopt double standards when dealing with newspapers" and claimed that those parts of the report critical of national newspapers had been removed before publication. Meanwhile legal proceedings against Ibrahim Issa, editor-in-chief of Al-Dostour, were dropped after the new press law was ratified last month. Issa, along with two Al-Dostour journalists, had been handed a 12-month jail sentence after the paper accused President Mubarak of misusing government funds.
