CAIRO: The Omraneya Misdemeanor Appeals Court acquitted Hisham Bahaa ElDin in a libel lawsuit filed by head of the Acting Professions' Syndicate Ashraf Zaki regarding an article posted by the former on social networking site Facebook. In the Facebook post, Bahaa ElDin, a syndicate member, had criticized the performance of the board and its head. The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) legal aid unit was representing the defendant Bahaa ElDin in the trial. “We knew right from the start that it is a malicious complaint that the union leader has submitted due to competing with Hisham in union elections,” Rawda Ahmed, director of the legal aid unit for freedom of expression at ANHRI, said in a statement to the press. “We were confident to have acquittal on the first hearing, but first instance verdict was unexpected, till we got an acquittal in the appeal.” Last May, the Omraneya Misdemeanor's Court sentenced Bahaa ElDin for two weeks in prison or a LE 10,000 bail. However, the sentence was appealed and the court decided to reject both criminal and civil cases for illegal proceedings and binding the plaintiff to pay all expenses of the case. This was the first lawsuit to address libel in content published on Facebook. In the article titled, “Scandal at Acting Professions Syndicate” published on Jan. 4 on Facebook, Bahaa ElDin reported alleged violations made by the syndicate's board. At the time, ANHRI commented on the lawsuit saying, “It is extremely unpleasant that the head of acting professions, one who is supposed to be most defending of the freedom of creativity, thought, opinion and expression, would sue a fellow union member because of difference of perception.” ANHRI said that Zaki shouldn't have taken the matter to court and instead respond with an article refuting the accusations Bahaa ElDin had made. ANHRI expressed its appreciation of the acquittal verdict. “This verdict is a clear message to the interns of the freedom to use the internet and freedom of expression, to temporarily hold imprisonment in Facebook insult and libel cases. The sentence is supportive of these social networks, which made everyone able to use their legitimate right to expression [sic],” it said in a statement. This was not the first lawsuit Zaki files against Bahaa ElDin, who ran against him in the last syndicate election. Last January, he filed a lawsuit against Bahaa ElDin accusing him of fraud when the latter reported at the police department that Zaki was insulting and threatening him on the phone to force him out of the elections.
