A new press law that scraps prison sentences is on the way -- at least that's what journalists have been told. Shaden Shehab investigates Prior to the opening session of February's Fourth General Congress of Journalists, President Hosni Mubarak informed Press Syndicate Chairman Galal Aref that imprisonment sentences for publication offences had been abolished. Journalists heartily applauded the move, confident that it meant no journalist would ever again spend time behind bars for something they had written. Or, as Aref put it, "it means nobody in Egypt will ever be imprisoned again for their opinions." Last week, however, reality struck, as Ahmed Ezzeddin, a journalist at the independent weekly Al-Osbou', was sentenced to the maximum penalty of two years in prison for libelling Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali. Ezzeddin, who is on the run, contested the ruling, and on Monday, Al-Osbou' Chief Editor Mustafa Bakri asked the prosecutor-general for a stay on the sentence until the Court of Cassation rules on the appeal. Without amending the 1996 press law, Mubarak's decision boils down to good intentions, as judges continue to enforce the currently exiting statutes. On Sunday, Aref and the Press Syndicate Council met with Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour, Shura Council Speaker Safwat El-Sherif and Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr. During the meeting, an agreement was reached regarding the drafting of a new press law within the next three weeks. The draft would then be submitted to parliament for approval after the summer recess. During the meeting, Sorour said that Mubarak's directives should be considered final decisions that had to be implemented. There was no way around the cancelling of prison sentences for publication offences, he said. The three officials promised that the draft law would be both in accordance with the journalists' requests, and similar to legislation in other countries. Over four years ago, when Al-Ahram Chief Editor Ibrahim Nafie was Press Syndicate chairman, the syndicate submitted a draft law that was later shelved. Press Syndicate council member Yehia Qallash said that this time, "we will adamantly insist on a new press law because the matter was already postponed for a long time, which has resulted in journalists being put in jail with criminals." Since Law 93 was passed in 1995, mandating severe penalties for publication violations, journalists have unsuccessfully campaigned to have the prison penalty dropped. Following resolute opposition from the Press Syndicate, the law was eventually repealed. Another press law, however, was passed in 1996. It also stipulated imprisonment for certain publication offences, although for shorter terms. Under the 1996 law, libel is punishable by a maximum of one year in jail, and/or a LE1,000-5,000 fine. If the victim of the slander is a public official, the maximum penalty is two years, and/or a LE5,000-20,000 fine. Several journalists have recently spent time behind bars -- some of them for also libelling Wali. In March 2000, Magdi Hussein, editor-in-chief of the now frozen Al-Shaab newspaper who was also a member of the Press Syndicate Council at the time, was sentenced to two years in jail for a fierce campaign against Wali. Journalist Salah Bedeiwi also got two years jail time in the case, and cartoonist Essam Hanafi one year, for accusing Wali of "treason" for allegedly championing the normalisation of relations with Israel, importing sub-standard food products and seeds, and misusing his power to serve personal interests. In the current case against Ezzeddin, Wali was accused of importing agricultural pesticides that caused cancer, as well as providing false testimony during the ongoing trial of his legal consultant Ahmed Abdel-Fattah. Wali denied that Abdel-Fattah was still his consultant at the time, although more recent revelations seemed to indicate that he was. Abdel- Fattah was caught red-handed while allegedly attempting to extort a LE2 million bribe from a businessman. For now, journalists can only hope that a new press law without prison sentences becomes a reality before other journalists are put behind bars.
