CAIRO: As reporters and journalists of the daily independent opposition newspaper al-Dustoor continued their strike in protest of the new publisher's decision to fire prominent Editor-in-chief Ibrahim Eissa, following reports of a dispute with the new publishers over whether to publish an article by Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Prize winner and de-facto leader of Egypt's opposition movement, the National Assembly for Change issued a statement to condemn the decision and considered that the firing is a “sign of the future of freedom of speech in Egypt, which is threatened by the ruling regime and the recent crackdown on all opposition writers and talk shows.” The recent move by the publishers of al-Dustoor comes in accordance with the recent crackdowns on a number of talk shows critical of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) ahead of the November Parliamentary elections. The National Assembly for Change considered that firing Ibrahim Eissa “is consistent with the recent campaigns of intimidation and repression of the critical talk shows on TV and comes in parallel to the recent waves of arrests, harassment, suppression and firings, which were practiced against opposition students in universities.” The assembly's statement attributed the crackdown to “a desperate attempt by the regime to silence the voice of free young people and falsifying student elections, and on the same pace at which it will falsify the will of the people in the play of the next elections.” The National Assembly appealed to all the political forces, movements and human rights organizations in the country “to move vigorously to defend the supporters of the truth and freedom in Egypt, which is under fierce police attack,” and called on them to be ready to meet what it described as “the greatest conspiracies of falsification of the popular will in the parliamentary elections, showing the introductions, as it will be an unprecedented blow to freedoms and the Constitution and rights and democracy.” In a related context, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) criticized the decision to fire Eissa, saying in a statement that “the step came faster than expected,” adding that “there have been fears of an attempt to silence this editor and his newspaper, but it was unexpected to happen this fast.” The statement added that despite the beliefs that the firing came due to a dispute with the publishers over an article by ElBaradei, “millions of Egyptians interested in this paper were quite sure that Dr. El-Sayed Badawi, the owner of the newspaper and the new Chairman of the Board, will make the arbitrary decision, which is what actually happened a few hours after the transfer of the ownership of the newspaper officially.” The firing comes amid recent speculation over Eissa's future in the month since al-Dustour was acquired by two businessmen, including Sayed Badawi, a media mogul and head of the al-Wafd political party. “I was informed of the firing decision hours after a phone call with the new owners, in which they asked me to stop the publishing of an article written by Mohamed ElBaradei in the memory of the October 6th war,” Eissa said. “I rejected their request, so they asked me to hold back the article for two days … hours later, I was informed of their decision,” Eissa added in statements made to television networks. “We, al-Dustour reporters, strongly reject the firing of Eissa. We reject the new owners' decision to change the editorial policy of the newspaper,” an earlier statement by the staff of the newspaper said. The reporters added that they will not take part in issuing any edition of al-Dustour without Eissa's name on it. Eissa and the Executive Editor of the newspaper, Ibrahim Mansour, informed the Supreme Council for Journalism and the Al-Ahram Institution that prints the newspaper, that they are no longer in charge of the newspaper and that they don't want their names to be published on upcoming issues as it would be considered as a violation of professional standards. The reporters of al-Dustoor published their strike and protest news on the website of the newspaper, which is owned by Eissa himself, and the new publishers were unable to force it offline. Badawi then announced that he would no longer be the CEO of the newspaper, and that he hasn't appointed someone to take over. Eissa was sentenced to two months in prison in 2008 after the daily had reported on President Hosni Mubarak's health. The articles included one that said the president went into a coma, sparked major government criticism, with Eissa facing the brunt of the attacks. He has long been the leading critic of President Hosni Mubarak's government and activists and observers in the country have flocked to support him amidst the turmoil. BM
