The journalists and editors of Al–Dostour were surprised by an unprecedented attack on the Newspaper Headquarter and its employees by the new Owners and CEOs, as the publishers of Al-Dostour fired the Editor in Chief, and the founder of the Newspaper, Mr. Ibrahim Eissa, in a context that made it clear that the deal of purchasing the newspaper, targeted the editorial policy and the Editors running it, and also targeted the Political Trends adopted by Al-Dostour, and flagrantly violating the rights of more than 150 Journalists hired by the Newspaper. This became clear as the new owners and CEOs refrained from keeping their promises of raising the salaries of the Editors. The Journalists of Al-Dostour stress that they don't accept the issuance of the newspaper under the leadership of any Top Editor but Mr. Ibrahim Eissa, as this stance comes in accordance with their commitment to the Ethics of Journalism which states and asserts “ conscience” which prohibits the manipulation of the Editorial Policy. What proves the adoption of a new editorial policy by the new CEOs is the statements of Mr. Reda Edward one of the CEOs of the Newspaper, as he made statements to some of our work mates, saying: “that the new CEOs can not cope up with the current Editorial Policies of the Newspaper, claiming that if the Newspaper continued to maintain its current policies, it would lose the profits of the Advertisements”. This is a proof could be used as a testimony by the Editors and Journalists of Al-Dostour. The Staff of Al-Dostour, hereby calls on the elected Board of the Syndicate of Journalists to fulfill its duties and protect the freedom of Press and freedom of Speech in Egypt, through pressurizing the new owners of the Newspaper, as they represent the Authority of Capital and Finance of Press. We hereby call on the Syndicate of Journalists to intervene to call of the decision to fire Mr. Ibrahim Eissa, and to assure the apology of new owners publicly for insulting the journalists of Al-Dostour whether those who are members of the Syndicate or the trainees, and to call of the recent firings against some other work mates and to protect their professional and financial rights, as some of them received promises from the new CEOs that they will sign a contract immediately after the CEOs take the lead of the Newspaper, the same day when they fired the Editor in Chief. We also call on the Syndicate to show commitment to be a party in any future negotiations between the Journalists and the CEOs on the future of the Newspaper. We reaffirm that our position is to defend the future of the freedom of press in Egypt, not just to defend our personal rights. Signed by, The Journalists of Al-Dostour ** The views of this article do not necessarily reflect those of Bikya Masr and are opinions from the writers of this piece. BM
