An Egyptian court on Monday postponed trial proceedings for journalist Saad Khaab and Wael al-Ibrashy, chief editor of independent weekly Sawt al-Umma, who face libel charges for defaming three police officers from the Basatin police department. Trial proceedings were postponed to 16 January. The two defendants collaborated on an article that criticized the Basatin police department as “a slaughterhouse for the poor and a haven for criminals.” The piece prompted the head of the investigations services and another two officers to accuse the journalists of libel. Al-Ibrashy faces a separate lawsuit raised by Minister of Finance Youssef Botrous-Ghali, who accuses al-Ibrashy of inciting public disobedience following recently-enacted property tax laws. In 2007, al-Ibrashy was sentenced along with three other editors to one year in prison after being convicted for publishing misinformation destabilizing the country. The penalty was later dropped by an appeals court, which instead fined the defendants LE20,000 each. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
