The suspension of the editor of Al-Gomhuriya exacerbates tensions between journalists and the Shura Council, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky Journalists protested in front of the Shura Council building on Sunday following the suspension of Gamal Abdel-Rehim as editor-in-chief of the state-owned Al-Gomhuriya newspaper. Abdel-Rehim was barred from work after the paper falsely reported that former military leaders Hussein Tantawi and Sami Anan had been banned from travelling abroad. The Press Syndicate has said it will pursue the case in the courts, arguing Shura Council speaker Ahmed Fahmi overstepped his authority by suspending Abdel-Rehim on 17 October. The crisis has prompted a renewed debate over ways to free state-owned newspapers from executive interference. On 17 October Fahmi decided to suspend Abdel-Rehim from work, noting that he will be questioned before a disciplinary committee. Fahmi temporarily replaced Abdel-Rehim with Al-Sayed Al-Babli pending investigations. The Shura Council's Culture and Media Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet with the Supreme Press Council (SPC) board, paradoxically chaired by Fahmi, after the Eid holiday to discuss the case. Secretary-General of the Press Syndicate Karem Mahmoud told reporters during the protest that the decision to suspend Abdel-Rehim and refer him to investigation contravenes the press law. The SPC, he said, has no authority to sack journalists or question them. Instead, it should have submitted a request to the Press Syndicate to open an investigation. Abdel-Rehim was appointed editor-in-chief of Al-Gomhuriya in August by the Shura Council. That the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament should still be able to exercise such direct control over the press angers many. The Shura Council's move against Abdel-Rehim has been mired in confusion. Initially Fahmi told the media that Abdel-Rehim had been sacked. Within hours he was backtracking, revising his earlier statements to say Abdel-Rehim had been suspended from work pending investigation. Abdel-Rehim told Al-Ahram Weekly he had received no official notification of the Shura Council's decision. "I have heard contradictory statements about my status from the media. Whether I'm suspended or dismissed is irrelevant. The fact is the move lacks any legality." Ali Fath Al-Bab, leader of the Freedom and Justice Party on the Shura Council, told Al-Wafd that the Shura Council had suspended Abdel-Rehim and will not move further with the case until the investigation, which is due to begin after the Eid holiday, is complete. In a statement issued on Saturday the Press Syndicate said it would use all available legal means to contest. There have been reports that a general assembly could be called to formulate responses to what many journalists say is an ongoing campaign against press freedom. "The decision to suspend Abdel-Rehim is unprecedented and lacks legitimacy. It is an aggression against the freedom of the press. Under Article 34 of the press law the Press Syndicate is the only body authorised to investigate its members," said the statement. It went on to call on the temporary editor-in-chief to refuse the post. "Al-Babli will be referred to investigation if he does not abide by the syndicate's decision," the statement warned. However, on Monday, President Mohamed Morsi held a meeting with a group of journalists including Al-Babli, a move that was interpreted by Abdel-Rehim as meaning direct support from the presidency. Al-Babli said after the meeting that Abdel-Rehim had committed a "fatal editorial mistake" when he published incorrect news. "The Shoura Council believes that Abdel-Rehim is not capable of running the newspaper and deserved to be sacked," Al-Babli told Dream TV after his meeting with Morsi. Al-Gomhuriya's Deputy Chief Editor Hisham Shahin told reporters that under the press law chief editors cannot be held responsible for every word that appears in their papers. He added that Al-Gomhuriya had already published an apology on its front page and referred the reporter who wrote the article to its internal discipline committee. On 17 October Al-Gomhuriya appeared with the headline "The castles of corruption are teetering" above a picture of Tantawi and Anan and a second headline claiming the prosecutor-general would soon announce a travel ban on the two men. The ministries of defence and justice immediately issued statements denying the story. Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali subsequently urged journalists to check the accuracy of any information they receive before publishing. Abdel-Rehim believes the Muslim Brotherhood is behind his removal as the group's leaders attempt to settle scores with him for writing a series of articles under the title "Renegade from the Brotherhood's Mantle". "This is a very serious development. It makes clear that the Brotherhood, and its political arm the Freedom and Justice Party, is intent on intimidating journalists," says Abdel-Rehim. The move sends a clear message to editors of state newspapers that suspension and investigation will be the fate of anyone who crosses the "red line with the Muslim Brotherhood". Press Syndicate board member Gamal Fahmi says the crisis has sounded alarm bells across the state-owned press. The Muslim Brotherhood, he adds, are determined to control state media, and its members on the Constituent Assembly have pushed for the creation of a new authority to "administer and develop press and media establishments owned by the state". The Brotherhood, he adds, is "simply reassigning the role now performed by the Shura Council to a new body while remaining determined to ensure the national media serves its agenda and can be used as a propaganda tool".
