The opening shot in an ongoing battle? Shaden Shehab ponders the significance of the latest trial of Al-Dostour 's editor-in-chief The trial of Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dostour, opened on Monday only to be adjourned until 24 October. More than a dozen armoured vehicles added to the daily congestion in Downtown Cairo's Galaa Street while the scenes around the Galaa Court Complex, blockaded by state security personnel, plain clothes security men and high ranking police officers speaking loudly into walkie-talkies, resembled the trials of Muslim Brotherhood members or else of a high- profile spy rather than that of a journalist accused of spreading false rumours about the health of President Hosni Mubarak. In addition to harming the public interest by suggesting President Mubarak was unwell, Eissa is also accused of economic sabotage. Rumours about Mubarak's failing health allegedly caused panic among foreign investors and a $350 million slump in the stock exchange. If security outside the court building was strict, inside it was, if anything, more so. Central Security Forces manned checkpoints on the way to the courtroom allowing only lawyers, journalists and human rights activists with valid identification cards to pass. Even so the small courtroom was packed with more people than it could contain, leaving many to gasp for air near the tiny open window. Indeed, the only person who didn't show up was the defendant himself. Knowing that the trial would be adjourned till a later date he instead spent his time giving interviews to radio and TV channels. At 10am presiding Judge Sherif Kamel took the bench to disclose that Eissa faced charges on eight counts of misdemeanour. They were announced consecutively to the court, with the prosecution and defence teams -- Eissa's includes more than 10 lawyers -- commenting on each. The judge then retired for more than an hour, returning to announce that the hearing would reopen on 24 October at Tagammu Al-Khames, on the outskirts of Cairo. He also ordered that the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt and the chair of the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange be summoned as witnesses and testify on the economic impact of the stories relating to Mubarak's health. Though Eissa will continue to be tried in a misdemeanour court the Tagammu complex is used most often by state security courts. The judge changed the trial's venue on the order of the prosecutor-general, received a day before the initial hearing. Originally the case had been slated for a state security court, which offers no right of appeal, but to the relief of many was transferred to an ordinary court in what the Press Syndicate said was a retreat by the regime. Eissa is among four editors recently sentenced to 12-months for libelling senior figures in the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), including President Mubarak, Assistant Secretary- General Gamal Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. The three other editors are Wael El-Ibrashi of Sawt Al-Umma, Adel Hammouda of Al-Fagr and Abdel-Halim Qandil, former editor of Al-Karama. They were granted bail for a LE10,000 pending their appeal against the verdicts. A date for the appeal to be heard has yet to be set. Last year Eissa was also convicted of insulting President Mubarak, for which he was fined. Eissa told reporters from his newspaper office on the day of the trial that the regime was taking the case far too personally. "I'm very surprised that the state insists on considering the president's health a military secret. The trial will serve only to turn the court into a political circus and if anything will keep the focus of the public on the president's state of health." "The whole of political society feels the danger of a regime that is trying to ambush journalists and freedom of expression," he added. Eissa could face up to three years in prison if convicted. In a meeting two weeks ago the Press Syndicate Council and editors-in-chief of the independent and opposition papers decided to wait for two weeks before determining what their response to the recent spate of charges against journalists should be, during which time Press Syndicate Chairman Galal Aref, together with other leading journalists, was asked to open discussions with the government in an attempt to have the charges withdrawn. They met Information Minister Anas El-Fiqi, officially requested a meeting with President Mubarak and were scheduled to meet Chairman of the Higher Press Council Safwat El-Sherif but the plans came to a halt when Aref suffered a heart attack during a press council meeting and was hospitalised. El-Sherif has postponed the meeting until Aref recovers. Last week's guilty verdict against two journalists and the editor of Al-Wafd, charged with falsely attributing statements to Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marei -- they each received two-year custodial sentences -- saw relations between the government and journalists take a further nosedive. In a meeting at the Press Syndicate this week 17 opposition and independent papers agreed to cancel publication on 7 October to protest against the prison sentences. Mustafa Bakri, chief editor of Al-Osbou, and Farida El-Naqash of the Tagammu Party's Al-Ahaly refused to comply. "Negotiations with the state will not stop but must be accompanied with protest measures to give more impact," Yehia El-Qallash, secretary- general of the Press Syndicate, told Al-Ahram Weekly. These measures include a call on other professional syndicates, political parties and civil organisations to join in sit-ins and demonstrations. Makram Mohamed Ahmed, who told the Weekly, "the latest prison sentences against the three journalists of Al-Wafd rub salt into the wound," still believes that "protest measures should not take place until we reach a dead end". In July 2006, 25 opposition and independent newspapers failed to appear and journalists demonstrated in protest against amendments in the penal code related to publication offences. One amendment stipulated custodial sentences for journalists who questioned the financial integrity of public officials or state employees. At the time, President Mubarak ordered the amendments to be dropped before parliament resurrected them. Last week the Bush administration expressed its concern over recent press cases in Egypt. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the Egyptian government's actions contradicted its stated commitment to expanding democratic rights. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit responded by saying the statements were "unacceptable interference in Egypt's internal affairs".
