Press Release from Al-Bawaba Newspaper following confiscation of Sept 3 Issue

on: September 05, 2017

Cairo – Al-Bawaba Newspaper is flabbergasted and astounded by the decision of Al-Ahram Printing Press to cancel printing its issue of Sunday 3/9/2017, citing “certain entities” have demanded the deletion of a press report concerning the length of the mysterious escape of former Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly.

Confiscation of the Sunday issue from Al-Bawaba Newspaper

The press report, which appears on the front page, is part of Al-Bawaba Newspaper’s regular press briefing on a motion made earlier by a member of the Parliament to Interior Minister Majdi Abdel-Ghaffar about the inability of the security services to arrest the fugitive minister and bring him to justice; a matter that the Newspaper and its editorial staff view with suspicion as well as categorically reject.

Al-Bawaba draws the attention to the gravity of such irresponsible actions by some security agencies so as to impose limits upon issues of freedom of opinion and expression, and the Newspaper accuses those agencies of using their powers to settle scores with and wage personal vendetta against opponents.

The Newspaper warns those entities against the perils of violating the law through the exploitation of influence and the confiscation of newspapers, and acting with impunity, while these entities themselves derive legitimacy and prestige only from upholding and protecting the rule of law. Al-Bawaba Newspaper is adamant that it will never budge on the freedom of journalism.

For its part, Al-Bawaba Newspaper reserves its legal rights to take whatever measures it deems necessary to confront these imprudent actions, which negatively affect Egypt’s image at home and abroad, and make us vulnerable to bitter criticisms and negative assessments in international forums on freedoms and human rights.

The Newspaper also calls on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to intervene to ensure that the rule of law is respected and protected from such blatant violations by some entities that are only trying to cover up their disastrous failures in policy and planning.

Al-Bawaba Newspaper calls upon Supreme Council for Media Organizations, the National Press Authority, and the National Media Authority, the Journalists’ Syndicate, and all the other concerned national institutions to assume their responsibilities in protecting the freedom of opinion and expression and to intervene to confront the constant brutal aggression against the newspaper.

Press Release issued by The Al-Bawaba News.

Sunday morning, 3 September, 2017

To access the Arabic version, please click here.