CAIRO: Human rights groups condemned the recent crackdown on the media, where two newspaper editions were withdrawn by authorities this week for including unfavorable articles. Tuesday's edition of Rose El-Youssef was withdrawn for including an article on an Israeli spy in Egypt during ousted president Mubarak's rule, while earlier this week the printing of a Sout El-Umma issue was halted until an article about the Egyptian intelligence was replaced. Human rights groups described the incidents as a violation of freedom of speech. “The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is continuing the illegal practices that were there before the revolution,” said Sherif Azer from the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) described in a statement the incident as “a new setback for freedom of opinion and expression, [adding to the] the record of the military council that pursues the same policies of the former regime in restricting media freedoms.” According to ANHRI, editor-in-chief of Rose El-Youssef Ibrahim Khalil said in press statements that they were informed by Al-Ahram Printing House that a “sovereign body” gave orders not to publish the edition with the article on the Israeli spy. The article was an investigative piece on an Israeli spy in Egypt whose arrest was stopped by Mubarak in July 1997. “The military council proves day after day that it is following the same approach of the former regime by cracking down on freedom of opinion and expression and restricting the media and denying it its role to enlighten the public opinion and expose corruption and its icons,” stated ANHRI. “Media freedom in Egypt is experiencing a critical phase under the policy of the military council and the transitional government which have been gradually restricting freedom of expression, causing the gains of the Egyptian revolution to slowly shrink,” the statement explained. The Association for Freedom and Thought also rejected “the series of oppressive measures practiced by sovereign authorities against the right for the flow of information,” they stated.
