JournalismPakistan.com | Published April 05, 2018
Join our WhatsApp channel
WASHINGTON - The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the retaliatory measures taken by Egyptian authorities against the independent news website Masr al-Arabia for its coverage of last week’s presidential elections and calls on the authorities to release the website’s editor.
Since April 1, Egyptian authorities have shuttered Masr al-Arabia’s office in Cairo, arrested its editor-in-chief, and levied a fine against the website after it allegedly violated election regulations, according to news reports.
“Having threatened the press ahead of the vote, various Egyptian authorities now appear to be competing to see who can most stringently enforce censorship in the wake of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s reelection,” CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Coordinator said. “We call on the Egyptian government to ease this relentless crackdown and let the news media do its job of holding power to account.”
CPJ's requests for comment sent via email to Egyptian media regulators and the prosecutor general's office were not immediately answered.
At least ten plainclothes police who said they belonged to local municipality authorities yesterday raided Masr al-Arabia’s office and held its journalists for five hours. The group of men then ordered staff out of the building and sealed the doors with red wax, according to Masr al-Arabia, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information press freedom group, and news reports. The website’s staff is operating remotely, according to a statement from Masr al-Arabia issued after the raid.
Police also arrested the website’s editor-in-chief, Adel Sabri, claiming that Masr al-Arabia lacks requisite licensing. Police took him to Dokki prison in Cairo. The editor today appeared in front of a district prosecutor whose name has not been released and who is still deciding if Sabri should be freed, the video department head Ahmed Gamal Ziada told CPJ.
In its statement, Masr al-Arabia wrote that police told Sabri he should pay a 50,000 Egyptian pound (US$2841) fine imposed on the paper on April 1 by Egypt’s media regulator, the High Council for Media.
The regulator issued the fine after Masr al-Arabia published its Arabic translation of a critical New York Times report alleging election violations, which the regulator labeled as “fake news.” The website has refused to pay the fine, according to the Masr al-Arabia statement.
In police custody, Sabri also refused to pay the fine, saying that police could not enforce the media regulator’s order, according to the statement.
Since February, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation - a body set up in 2016 under a decree by el-Sisi--banned several entertainment and satirical shows on moral grounds, CPJ documented at the time. Last week, the body threatened journalists with retaliatory actions if their reporting was "unethical," and fined at least one other outlet, al-Masry al-Youm daily, 150,000 Egyptian pounds (US$8,479), for reporting on election irregularities, according to the daily and other media reports.
Egyptian authorities blocked the Masr al-Arabia website in May 2017, but is accessible through virtual private networks (VPNs), CPJ reported at the time. Authorities have blocked at least 496 websites of news outlets, blogs, human rights organizations, and circumvention tools used to bypass the blocks, according to the free speech advocacy group, Association of Freedom and Thought, and the U.S.-based Open Observatory of Network Interference. One of the blocked websites, the independent news website Mada Masr, reported that its appeal of the ban is scheduled for May 13 at the Court of Administrative Justice. – A CPJ news alert
April 11, 2025: Sindhi journalist AD Shar was brutally murdered in Khairpur, Sindh. His body was found dumped on Handiyari Link Road. PFUJ has declared a three-day mourning period and demanded justice.
April 10, 2025: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir government has filed a case against The Daily Jammu & Kashmir and its staff for alleged fake news, drawing condemnation from PFUJ and IFJ, who demand immediate withdrawal of the FIR and an end to media repression in Pakistan.
April 08, 2025: Journalist Arzoo Kazmi alleges that Pakistan's state agencies, including the FIA, have blocked her CNIC, passport, and bank account while threatening her. She calls it a direct attack on journalism.
April 07, 2025: The Islamabad High Court has directed IG Islamabad to produce journalist Ahmad Noorani’s missing brothers, as the Ministry of Defence denies custody. SIM activity was traced in Bahawalpur, and investigations into their suspected abduction continue.
April 07, 2025: Journalist and Raftar founder Farhan Mallick has been granted bail by a Karachi court in a case concerning anti-state content aired on his YouTube channel. He still faces separate charges related to an alleged illegal call center and data theft.
April 03, 2025: Veteran journalist Ghulam Abbas Shah has joined Discover Pakistan Television as the Head of Programming. With 25 years of experience in leading news organizations, he looks forward to contributing to quality storytelling and content.
April 02, 2025: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly condemned the visit of a group of Pakistani journalists to Israel, calling it a violation of journalistic ethics and a betrayal of press freedom and human rights. PFUJ demands a transparent investigation into the matter.
March 30, 2025: Dawn criticizes Pakistan’s plan to use TV dramas against extremism, highlighting financial and digital challenges. Can media alone solve deep-rooted issues?
April 03, 2025 The International Press Institute (IPI) and International Media Support (IMS) invite nominations for the 2025 World Press Freedom Hero and Free Media Pioneer Awards. Recognizing courageous journalists and innovative media, the awards will be presented at IPI’s 75th-anniversary World Congress in Vienna. Submit your nominations by April 30, 2025.
April 01, 2025 Photojournalist Suresh Rajak was burned alive while covering a violent protest in Kathmandu. The IFJ and its affiliates condemn the attack and call for an urgent investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable.
April 01, 2025 Assam Police arrested digital journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder for covering a protest against alleged corruption at Assam Co-Operative Bank. Media organizations have condemned the arrest, calling it an attack on press freedom.
March 29, 2025 A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle Voice of America (VOA), ruling that the move likely violated legal procedures. The decision protects over 1,200 journalists and media staff.
March 28, 2025 Turkey deports BBC journalist Mark Lowen over 'public order' threat and fines opposition TV channels covering Istanbul Mayor's arrest. Critics condemn crackdown on press freedom amid rising political tensions.