CAIRO: Egyptian editor Ibrahim Eissa is facing criminal charges once again. This time, the outspoken critique of the Egyptian government is under attack from a new source: the Kuwaiti Prime Minister al-Ahmed al-Sabah, who has filed a complaint against the al-Dustour Editor-in-chief over his writing on corruption. The Kuwaiti PM is accusing Eissa and Mohamed al-Weshaihi of libel and insulting him after the Egyptian daily newspaper reported on the trial of Kuwaiti journalist Mohamed al-Jassim, slamming the PM for his role in the matter. According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Eissa published a series of articles describing the situation of al-Jassim as well as an article by Kuwaiti writer al-Weshaihi on the legal efforts of journalists in the Gulf country. The newspaper accused the PM of failing in his performance to uphold freedom of speech and criticized the Kuwait government for deporting Egyptians who supported Mohamed ElBaradei. Then, in Cairo, al-Sabah filed a communique against the newspaper and Eissa personally, accusing him of libel and insult. Investigations are currently under way. Eissa, who received the Arab Journalism Award in commemoration of slain Lebanese journalist Jibran Twaini in 2008, has been under near constant attack from the Egyptian government and now the Kuwaiti government over his writing, which calls for reform, change and greater freedom of the press. ANHRI said al-Dustour was the only Egyptian paper to support Kuwaiti journalists in the crackdown of them by the Kuwaiti government, which Eissa said was led by al-Sabah. ANHRI said in a press statement that “the Kuwaiti Prime Minister not only prosecuted journalists and attempted to silence their critique in Kuwait, but tried to follow the same method against the Egyptian journalist, and the Kuwaiti journalist Mohammed Alwechihi as well. “The journalist stance in defense of press freedom and freedoms of his colleagues is appreciated anywhere in the world, not only in the Arab world.” ANHRI added “once more, we assert that any citizen, regardless of their position and being from a ruling family or not, is a liable to criticism, and harsh criticism as long as they serve as formal and public servant. They should step down if they could not tolerate criticism instead of trying to silence journalists. “Should journalists abandon their duty of seeking the truth and take on appeasing stands, they would lose credibility and be considered as retreating from serving the citizens,” the statement continued. BM
