8 February 2000
DRAFT LAW WOULD FURTHER RESTRICT MEDIA, SAYS EOHR
On 1 February, Cairo's "Al Akhbar" published a news item about a government drafted legislation that would amend Egypt's Publications Law, reports the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR). The article states that the law would subject "the printing of foreign papers in Egypt to the approval of the Minister of the Interior," says EOHR. According to "Al Akhbar', the drafted legislation also specifies that "the cabinet can cancel the license of a newspaper and stop its printing if what it publishes leads to: moral corruption, assault on religions, upsetting of public security, disseminating horror among people and causing harm to public interest." The law is currently being considered by the State Council, Egypt's main administrative and legislative body.
A "glaring violation to the freedom of the press, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression," the legislation adds to a long line of laws which restrict media freedom, says EOHR. EOHR adds that the justifications given for canceling media licenses and banning printing are "too vague and will therefore be able to be abused according to the whims of the state, and as a result, every newspaper will be under a constant threat of closure." EOHR also notes that newspapers described as "foreign" are most often issued and edited by Egyptians since heavy restrictions have forced many publications to seek licenses from abroad. This move is part of the larger regressive trend towards greater restrictions on "the sphere of freedoms" in general, and on the rights of freedom of opinion and expression in particular.
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