CAIRO: The ruling military council called upon TV anchor Yosri Fouda to resume his suspended program “Akher Kalam” in a phone interception with ONTV channel Sunday night. Ismail Etman, member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and head of the Morale Affairs Department, phoned “Baladna bel Masry” show, which airs on the same channel, to say that Fouda should return. “I acknowledge that Fouda is a skilled, efficient, professional media person,” Etman said. “If there is any internal misunderstanding with the channel or any other authority, we hope it will be immediately resolved … Yosri must return to his natural place,” he added. Fouda responded to the call on his Twitter account saying that he appreciated Etman's phone-in on a personal level, adding that there were still many questions that needed answers. Etman said that Fouda “shouldn't deprive the channel or the people from listening to his ideas and opinions.” Fouda said Friday that he will indefinitely suspend his ONTV program “Akher Kalam,” following rumors that he was pressured not to air Thursday's episode in which he was planning to host outspoken critic, novelist Alaa Al-Aswany. Fouda had apologized Thursday night for cancelling an episode in which he planned to analyze the televised interview of two SCAF members aired the previous night and hosted by Mona El-Shazly and Ibrahim Eissa on Tahrir TV and Dream TV. Etman stressed that SCAF didn't interfere in the content presented by the media. He added that SCAF respected all opinions and criticism without intervening or oppressing anyone's opinions. He called on journalists to respect SCAF. “We respect you, so [you should] respect us,” he said. However, Ahmed Ragab, the producer of the show, maintained what he previously told Daily News Egypt, saying that there has been direct and indirect pressure on the channel as well as on the program's crew. “However, the channel never pressured us to do anything that we don't believe in and they left the final decision to Fouda,” he said. Fouda had said on his Twitter account that, “his problem was not with ONTV.” In a statement published on Fouda's Facebook page on Friday, he wrote, “It is no secret that much of the pre-revolution mentality is still imposed on us, if not worse. I'll stand today as a media practitioner to monitor the marked deterioration in professional media freedom.” Several activists and journalists have been questioned by the military prosecution for criticizing SCAF in the media including “Baladna bel Masry's” presenter Reem Maged, activist Hossam El-Hamalawy, journalist Nabil Sharaf El-Din, journalist Rasha Aazab and renowned activist Asmaa Mahfouz. Mahfouz was released on LE 20,000 bail, in August, before SCAF withdrew the charges against her.
