THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AWR) – Political activists and journalists expressed anger after a judge ruled Thursday that Islam Afify, editor-in-chief of Al-Dustur daily newspaper, accused of publishing false news about Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi, would remain under arrest. His trial has been postponed to September 16. President Mursi issued in response a decree, his first legislative act, to cancel the detention of defendants awaiting trial for media offenses.
Al Dustur, owned by the Wafd Party, has been publishing provocative editorials. Before presidential
election results were announced, during the days of uncertainty whether Muhammad Mursi or Ahmed Shafiq, had won the elections, the paper published a full-page advertisement quoting unnamed sources stating "If Muhammad Mursi loses, trained groups from the Muslim Brotherhood will encourage youth to protest against Ahmed Shafik as the Brotherhood fires live ammunition at citizens and deploys snipers on tops of buildings. If Muhammad Mursi does win, then 200 key public figures will be [executed] in a specific time all at once as a warning to incite fear among people," the ad read. It also claimed that members of Bedouin tribes would take advantage of the political upheaval and attack checkpoints in Sinai, allowing Hamas and the Iranian army to seize the peninsula.
I know high ranking people who claimed in those days that Muslim Brothers were employing militia.
References would be made to a surprise rally of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated students, wearing black uniforms and performing martial-arts moves, at the Azhar University in 2007 provoking allegations that the Brotherhood had a military wing.
Tawfīq ‘Ukāshah, a talk show host known for his support of deposed President Husni Mubarak and his contempt for the Muslim Brotherhood, was also banned from television when a court ordered his channel to be shut down after he was accused of similar charges. On June 13 he presented a horror killing of a young man, probably in Tunisia, for having left Sunni Islam. After showing the bloodiest images he asks "Is this Islam? Does Islam call for this? How is Islam related to this matter?...These are the images that are disseminated throughout the electronic media in Europe and America…. Can you imagine?" Then, in reference to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Salafīs, whose political influence has grown tremendously, he asked, "How are such people supposed to govern?"
President Mursi has been accused of a vigorous media clampdown. Editors-in-chief of major media
have been replaced. Activists are claiming that the attacks on the media and freedom of expression have been more blatant than under Mubarak. This is possible, but so are the methods of portraying Mursi and the FJP in the most negative light possible. The media war has resulted in foreign attention. U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said recently, "We are very concerned by reports that the Egyptian government is moving to restrict media freedom and criticism in Egypt."
But the media war does not stand on itself. It appears journalism is the victim of a power struggle taking place between president Mursi and his opponents.
On June 14
the Supreme Constitutional Court declared invalid the election of the first freely elected Parliament since the revolution of 1952. When it became clear Muhammad Mursi had won the presidential elections, the Supreme Council of Armed Forced amended the constitution on June 18 through
a constitutional declaration limiting the authority of the president. After President Mursi was sworn in, he struck down the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court about the invalidity of Parliament. The Supreme Constitutional Court responded that he had no authority to do so.
On August 5, armed men ambushed an Egyptian military base close to the Israeli border, killing 16 Egyptian soldiers and stealing two Egyptian armored cars with the intention to infiltrate Israel. President Mursi immediately fired intelligence chief Murad Muwafi and asked Minister of Defense Muhammad Hussein Tantawi to replace the military police’s commander. He did not occupy that position for long. On August 12 Mursi declared Tantawi and General Anan, the two most powerful men of the SCAF, retired. He also
declared that he had annulled the June 18 Constitutional Declaration of the SCAF. Just as the SCAF did earlier, he issued a
constitutional declaration giving him full legislative powers, which he will command until the election of a new parliament.
President Mursi has been much criticized in the Egyptian media, which is widely seen by the Muslim Brotherhood as being anti-Brotherhood. That is not entirely without reason. The Egyptian press has been used by the previous regime to criticize Muslim Brothers. Fair critique should, in my opinion, be possible but not all critique was fair. The publication of a call for a Christian genocide in al-Fajr on August 15 is an example of a type of journalism that apparently believes that the goal of opposing the president justifies just any means.
Muhammad Habīb, former deputy guide for the Muslim Brotherhood, saw this as a clear attempt "to incite hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood. Whoever is circulating this are people who antagonize the Muslim Brotherhood and the nation.” I do not think his evaluation is wrong. See further analysis by AWR in
this article.
No doubt many journalists in Egypt are also essentially political activists that serve either this or that party, and no doubt much of this reporting is unfair. But does this justify the harsh responses that we see now?
Former presidential candidate Amr Musa commented on the detention of journalists: “Misuse of judicial tools such as temporary detention for broad accusations, like insulting the president, is an obstacle against the freedom of opinion and expression; the former regime did not dare to pursue such path. The real insult in any regime is to begin its reign by imprisoning journalists as remand due to publication related lawsuits.”
Amr Musa’s use of the phrase "misuse of judicial tools" is harsh and reflects the struggle that is obviously taking place. Of course there should be full freedom of opinion and expression, but methods needs to be found to deal with media who incite and make false accusations. Media ethics are the first to fall victim to the struggle now taking place. In my opinion, the response should be media critique - searching for facts - and every time facts are incorrect that should be publicly stated. But calling for both freedom of expression and willingness to critique media at the same time is not easy. For this to happen, Egypt needs quality investigative journalism, well-trained staff that meet the highest ethical standards who are able to check facts, distinguish between objective truths and interpretation, and be fearless in telling the truth regardless to who this is, government, media, or religious institutions.
Demonstrations are planned on Friday against President Mursi. Amr Musa stated about these protests:
“My position is to give the full chance for the president and his government in the first 100 days, but at the same time I vigorously defend the rights of the August 24th demonstrators to fully express their opinion. Any governmental or security policy to gag or oppress freedom will lead to severe repercussions and adverse effects. The role of a government is to serve its people and ease their lives and protect them, even if they are demonstrating against it, so be the state's role in the democratic system which is the opposite role of totalitarian regimes that reject them. The latter we have tested before.”
I agree with Amr Musa that peaceful demonstrations should be possible but at the same time I see an
effort to mobilize the public to either support or oppose president Mursi.
I would wish to see a focus on unity and building the country together but for now the struggle is about how much strength president Mursi is allowed to have. The SCAF made an effort to reduce presidential powers with their constitutional declaration on June 16. President Mursi is fighting to restore presidential powers. But the struggle for power is creating victims. This is sad.
