Al-Fagr newspaper editor in chief Amry el-Laithy said the ruling of the administrative court to abolish the control of the Central Accounting Authority on private newspapers has put a remedy to many mistakes. He also affirmed that freedom of the press can not be restricted by imposing constraints or sanctions. He said freedom of the press in Egypt is guaranteed by the Constitution. He then affirmed that CAO chairman's decision was a clear interference in private newspapers' issues, as Article 33, on which the CAO has relied to take this decision, has been there since 1996 and has been interpreted in a way that gave state organs the possibility to interfere in private newspapers' issues. According to him, this means that control on newspapers has taken a new orientation. Al-Fagr newspaper editor in chief Adel Hamouda said the administrative court's ruling was not a surprise for him, as the CAO – as he put it – is the institution entrusted with controlling the government, its organs and institutions, which means joint-stock companies are outside its competencies. Hamouda pointed out that the court's ruling has confirmed an economic, legal and constitutional truth and unveiled that control of private newspapers has been a problem since the very beginning. Al-Osbo newspaper's editor in chief Mustafa Bakri said there is a great difference between private and state-owned newspapers. He said the CAO does not have the right to add new restrictions to the freedom of the Egyptian press, which is the only source of reliable information for the Egyptian people. "Since the CAO issued this decision, all private newspapers have submitted their financial books to express their good intentions" he added. "At the same time, though, we did not accept this situation and the court has finally taken a good decision by referring the CAO decision to the Constitutional Court, as what happened was a farce and must be re-considered." Al-Youm Al-Sabie newspaper editor in chief Khaled Salah said the decision taken by the administrative court had to be praised, as the CAO controls public money but not private one. "The idea of controlling private newspapers owned by joint-stock companies among all private companies is illogical" he said. "The CAO has to focus its efforts on controlling the daily wasting of public money in public newspapers." El-Badil newspaper editor in chief Khaled el-Balashi said there are clear rules on controlling private newspapers' financial issues, adding that what the CAO did contradicted these rules and with the press law.
