FORMER Press Syndicate Chairman Ibrahim Nafie, the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, was given the syndicate's top merit award in honour of Journalists' Day last Saturday. Twenty six other journalists also won awards for their work at the celebration, which was presided over by syndicate Chairman Galal Aref and attended by Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif and hundreds of journalists from different publications. Nafie, who was the syndicate's chairman from 1993-1997, then again from 1999-2003, had presided over an extraordinary general assembly nine years earlier, which vowed to oppose Law 193/1995, which mandated tough penalties for journalists accused of publication offences. As a result of the journalists' stiff and united opposition, the law was repealed. A new law passed in 1996, however, also mandated prison terms for journalists guilty of publication offences, albeit for shorter durations. Nafie, who is the chairman of the Arab Federation of Journalists, told the gathering that "we [journalists] have accomplished many things, but there is a bigger dream still needs to come true, and that is complete press freedom, and here I praise President [Hosni] Mubarak for his historical decision to eliminate [prison] penalties for publication offences." Although no legislation has yet been issued to that effect, Aref had publicly announced -- during February's Fourth General Congress of Journalists -- Mubarak's stand on the issue. Nafie said Mubarak's decision "should be transformed into clear legislation". Nafie also said that the Egyptian press should be modernised to restore its pioneering position in the Arab and international world, and that the press should play a crucial role in the development and democratisation processes.
