CAIRO: Ibrahim Eissa, chief editor of Al-Dostour daily newspaper, predicts that he will be tried before a State Security court instead of Bolak court, he told Daily News Egypt. Eissa is accused of generating public panic and causing the country substantial losses in foreign investment by spreading rumors about President Hosni Mubarak s health. The trial is set to take place on Oct. 1. Eissa added that he is still not sure whether he will be tried at a State Security court, but if that does happen, "it will be a big disaster. The State Security court is the highest authority in charge of major cases that threaten national security, and its verdicts cannot be appealed. "I think if the trial is conducted at the State Security court, then there is definitely a predetermined intention and a final decision has already been made against me, Eissa said. "[If this happens] they should have just arrested me in the first place without interrogations or trials, Eissa added. Eissa also denounced the fact that the emergency law gives the government the right to detain any journalist it considers a threat to national security. On Wednesday Sept. 5, the public prosecutor released Eissa without bail, after a seven-hour interrogation that included many journalists and representatives of several human rights organizations who voluntarily went to the prosecutor's office to show their support for Eissa. Some 30-35 lawyers volunteered to represent him. Eissa was also convicted along with Adel Hammouda, editor of Al-Fajr weekly, Wael Al-Abrashy, editor of Sout Al-Omah weekly, and Abd Al-Halim Kandil, former editor of Al-Karama newspaper, to a year in prison and a LE 20,000 fine for intentionally insulting President Mubarak, his son and the ruling party. On Monday, the chief editor of Al-Wafd newspaper, Anwar Al-Hawari, along with Mahmoud Galeb, and Amir Salem - two journalists at the same newspaper - received a two-year jail sentence for misquoting the Minister of Justice. Al-Badil editor Mohammed Sayyed Said is also facing prosecution for writing about President Hosni Mubarak s health. The press syndicate held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss these latest developments and will make an official statement on Thursday, according to Yahia Al-Alash, secretary general of the Press Syndicate.
