Egyptian journalist faces terrorism charges after entire newsroom detained

Clockwise from top left: Mohamed Ashraf, Omar Helal, Islam Barakat, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Mahmoud and Abdallah Qadri. Photograph: Matsadaash/APView image in fullscreenClockwise from top left: Mohamed Ashraf, Omar Helal, Islam Barakat, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Mahmoud and Abdallah Qadri.

Prefira o Guardian no Google Um jornalista egípcio foi acusado de se juntar a um grupo terrorista, dias depois de toda uma redação ter sido detida em o que grupos de direitos humanos chamaram de repressão às liberdades de imprensa.

Last week, authorities arrested six journalists from the independent fact-checking and investigative platform Matsadaash – literally meaning “don’t believe” – accusing them in a statement of being unlicensed and publishing false news on behalf of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Os seis jornalistas do veículo, Abdallah Qadri, Mohamed Ashraf, Mohamed Adel, Islam Barakat, Mohamed Mahmoud e Omar Helal, foram presos pelas forças de segurança ao longo de dois dias.

On Sunday, Egyptian authorities charged Ashraf with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, according to a statement by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a NGO.

As acusações surgiram após um interrogatório que durou das 22h às 8h e se concentrou exclusivamente em material publicado por Matsadaash, disse o grupo de direitos.

Ashraf was to be held for 15 days, pending investigation, while the whereabouts of the other five journalists were still unknown.

View image in fullscreenEgyptian authorities have charged the journalist Mohamed Ashraf with joining a terrorist group and spreading fake news. Photograph: Matsadaash/APAbdelrahman Mansour, the co-founder of the platform, denied having any association with the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational movement that was designated a terrorist organisation by Egypt in 2013 after the former president Mohamed Morsi, a senior Brotherhood figure, was ousted in a coup.

Mansour called the arrests “one of the gravest attacks on journalism in Egypt’s modern history”.

O The Guardian entrou em contato com o Egyptian State Information Service para obter um comentário, mas não recebeu resposta até o momento da publicação.

Dozens of journalists staged a sit-in outside the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS) in Cairo on Saturday, demanding the release of the Matsadaash staff. Members said they would keep the sit-in open ended until the journalists were released, and the EJS said it would convene an emergency meeting on Monday.

The EJS had filed a request with the ministry of interior and public prosecutor for the release of the journalists, as well as for information on their whereabouts.

Mais de 80 grupos de direitos humanos, incluindo Human Rights Watch e o Committee to Protect Journalists, condenaram as prisões como violação das liberdades e exigiram a libertação imediata da equipe Matsadaash.

The US has withheld portions of aid several times since the 2013 coup owing to Egypt’s poor human rights record, but has largely kept funds flowing.

This year, Washington waived the human rights requirement in total, as doing so was “essential for the US-Egypt relationship and US national security priorities”, according to a state department memo revealed by Reuters.

Enquanto dizia que não tinha certeza se as prisões estavam ligadas à recente isenção, Mansour afirmou: “O uso da isenção de segurança nacional sobre condições de direitos humanos pelos EUA há muitos anos, uma disposição de outros estados em olhar para o outro lado em relação ao registro de direitos humanos do Egito.

certainly enables violations like this to occur more easily.”.

Cairo has for years faced criticism for its human rights abuses, with the rights monitor Freedom House saying Egyptian security forces “engage in human rights abuses and extrajudicial killing with impunity”.

Since the Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi took power in the coup that ousted Morsi, civil liberties have been curbed and domestic political opposition has been violently crushed.

Egito ocupa a 169ª posição entre 180 países no índice de liberdade de imprensa do Reporters Without Borders. A liberdade de imprensa é rigidamente restringida no país e plataformas independentes como Matsadaash são raras.

About 26 journalists are held in Egyptian prisons, according to the EJS.