05 Dec 11 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
The life of a two-week old English-language newspaper, Egypt Independent, was abruptly put on hold last week after its Editor-in-Chief, Magdi El-Gallad, decided to censor an opinion piece by US historian and author Dr Robert Springborg that was critical of the military and its leadership.
The article, entitled “Is Tantawi reading the public pulse correctly?”, said that Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who leads Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), could share the same fate as former president Hosni Mubarak and find himself in jail as a result of popular discontent with his management of the revolution’s transition process.
“Many in the military resent the reputation of their institution being abused by the Field Marshal and his 19 colleagues on the SCAF … the present rumblings of discontent among junior officers, Chief of Staff General Sami Anan’s greater popularity than the Field Marshal in the military and among Egyptians as a whole, and intensified pressure from the US could all result in the Field Marshal sharing President Mubarak’s fate,” Dr Springborg wrote in the
original version of the article.
Dr Springborg concluded by saying that “discontented officers not in the SCAF might decide that a coup within the coup would be the best way to save the honour of the country and their institution.”
This open critique of the military and implications of rumblings within army ranks crossed a major red line in Egypt’s press freedom: criticism of the military.
After the opinion piece was censored and toned down, the distribution of 20,000 copies of Egypt Independent’s second issue, due to come out on 1 December, was still prevented.
Egypt Independent was the new name adopted for Al-Masry Al-Youm’s English language edition, which has existed online for two years. Its management is affiliated with the privately-owned Arabic language daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, a widely read and popular newspaper in Egypt.
The printed version has been put on hold for now. But, the life of its daily online version, Al- Masry Al-Youm English, continues.
Press freedom under SCAF
The whole experience has brought to the fore the fact that overt criticism of the military remains a red line with serious consequences that few are willing to cross.
Magdi El-Galad presumably has close ties with the military as he was recently offered, though turned down, the position of information minister in the cabinet of SCAF-appointed Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri.
An old-fashioned mentality also remains about the power of the printed press versus its online counterpart. Some think that had Dr. Springborg’s piece been published online, it may not have been censored.
This is ironic given the fact that the internet, especially Facebook and Twitter, played important roles in initiating the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt last winter, and continue to be essential information-sharing tools.
But it was a newspaper article published in the Arabic-language daily, Al-Shorouk, written by activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah that landed him in jail in October.
He wrote about the death of activist Mina Daniel during the army’s attack on peaceful Coptic protestors at Maspero, an area of Cairo known for housing the state television building. This left at least 29 people dead.
Alaa remains in a military jail, alongside blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad, whose critical writings of the military also led to his imprisonment. He has been on a hunger strike for over 100 days.
Dina Abdel Rahman, a television presenter on the privately-owned Dream TV, was also fired in July for reporting on a newspaper article, which was critical of the SCAF.
Dina’s incident, as well as that of Egypt Independent, raise fears among journalists, and those concerned with freedom of the press that while under Mubarak it was mainly the state that intervened to curb criticism in the press, now the owners of private media, supposedly the freest in Egypt, and editors themselves are practicing self-censorship at the behest of the military.
But “self-censorship has always existed”, Naila Hamdy, assistant professor at the American University in Cairo’s department of journalism, told Index. “There were a couple of months of real freedom after 25 January, and although some may have reverted back to self-censorship, journalists are still bolder than they were before the revolution.”
She added: “Media professionals might hold back, because they decide it is better than getting shut down completely. It might be better to push the envelope slightly, than with no publication at all.”
And, how far the envelope can continue to be pushed depends on the success of the transition process from military to civilian rule, a process underway as Egypt conducts parliamentary elections.
29 Nov 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
The retrial of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil was postponed again on Sunday. The case, which was originally due to be heard on November 1, has been pushed back to December 4. Nabil was detained for accusing the military of having conducted virginity tests on female protesters on March 28. In April, Nabil was sentenced by a military court to three years imprisonment on charges of “insulting the military and dissemination of false news about the armed forces” in his blog “Son of Ra.” The 25 year old blogger has been on hunger strike since 23 August.
22 Nov 11 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
The death toll from three days of unrest in Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square has risen to 33, with more than 1700 injured. More casualties and fatalities are expected as riot police and security forces continue their crackdown on the tens of thousands of protesters demanding the ousting of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy who heads the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
Following the outbreak of unrest, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s government resigned. At the same time, the Youth Revolutionary Coalition called on Egyptians to participate in what they hoped would be a million-strong National Rescue protest on Tuesday, calling for the formation of a new government with complete authority to run the country during the transitional period.
“The people feel their revolution has been stolen by the military. So we are back in Tahrir to ask the military rulers to leave. They are all members of Mubarak’s regime. The autocracy has only been replaced by another military dictatorship.”
-22-year-old activist Sahar Mohamed Zaki, who works for an airline company, explaining why protesters had returned to Tahrir
Most of the deaths in Tahrir were the result of gunshot wounds sustained in clashes with security forces as protesters attempted to storm the nearby Interior Ministry, headquarters of the detested police force. Demonstrators — suffering head injuries after being beaten with batons and choking as a result of excessive tear gas inhalation — were being ferried on makeshift stretchers to an area in the square where volunteer medics offered emergency aid. Wailing sirens could be heard as ambulances transported the more serious cases to nearby hospitals for treatment. Bahaa el Razi, a volunteer medic at the scene, told me that most of the casualties suffered from gas inhalation, while a few had been hit by rubber bullets and bird shots. Protesters claimed live ammunition was also being fired in attempts to disperse them.
In one instance, the body of a dead man was thrown by his attackers onto a rubbish heap . The incident enraged eyewitnesses, who insisted that “nothing has changed” and that their lives counted for nothing to those in a position of authority.
“Tantawy, leave!” The chants of the indignant protesters reverberated across the square. The scene was reminiscent of the January uprising that ousted Mubarak. Demonstrations erupted in Tahrir last Friday, with people demanding the ruling military council immediately hand over power to a civilian government. The protesters also called for an end to military trials for civilians and for parliamentary elections to be held on the scheduled date of 28 November. They also called for those responsible for the recent deaths to be punished for their crimes.
“Protests are the only way to get the SCAF to respond to our demands. The military wants to remain a state within a state‚ and does not want to be accountable for its actions. There is no alternative to confrontation.” So said Kamal Habib, a former Salafist who is currently a member of the Safety and Development party.
A middle-aged man who overheard Habib’s comment shook his head in disagreement. He interrupted, saying: “The economy is already in shambles. People need to get off the streets. They are making it difficult for us to get on with our lives and to earn a livelihood.”
He, did not, however, explain why he was in the square.
The latest unrest was sparked by a proposed controversial charter of supra-constitutional principles that activists feared would shield the military’s budget from public scrutiny and allow the military to choose a constituent assembly.
“No state institution is above the law and that includes the military. What we need is transparency,” said 23-year-old Tarek Ali, who works for a telecommunications company.
Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Aly el Selmi has defended the document, which bears his name. In comments published in state-run al Ahram newspaper on Wednesday, he claimed that several political powers, including the Muslim Brotherhood, had earlier agreed to the document with reservations to just two of its articles (9 and 10). Islamists have meanwhile boycotted discussion of the document, arguing that it strips parliament of authority while giving the SCAF veto power over articles with which it does not agree.
The military rulers insist, however, that they will hand over power to a new government once it is elected and have repeatedly assured the public that legislative elections will take place on time. But activists remains sceptical, expressing concerns that the military wants to maintain its grip on power.
In a televised statement on Monday, the military expressed its regret for the events in Tahrir, vowing to investigate those responsible for the violence. The statement called on the public to exercise restraint and for political parties “to work together to find a solution to the current crisis”. The armed forces also reminded the public that those who threaten public order and stability would be dealt with severely.
Many believe the ousted former president, who faces charges of ordering the killing of peaceful protesters , continues to run the country from his prison cell — a claim that has fuelled already inflamed public sentiment against the armed forces. Much of the anger is also directed at the police, whose repressive tactics have failed to change after the revolution.
The brutal crackdown on the Tahrir protesters has so far failed to quell the demonstrations. Similar protests have also taken place over the last three days in other major cities across the country, including Alexandria and Suez. On the contrary, the Tahrir crowd appeared to be swelling Monday night as more people arrived to join the estimated 50,000-strong crowd.
Journalist and television anchor Shahira Amin resigned her post as deputy head of state-run Nile TV on February. Read why she resigned from the “propaganda machine” here.
Despite the lethal crackdown, Egyptians are converging on Tahrir Square for the fourth day demanding change. Shahira Amin reports