Egypt\u2019s journalists syndicate has criticized proposed anti-terrorism legislation, warning that the draft law contradicted the country\u2019s constitution and would violate press freedoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe draft law represents a clear setback for the freedom of thought and press,” the Cairo-based syndicate said in a Monday statement.<\/p>\n
Last week, Egypt\u2019s cabinet approved the draft law, which is now awaiting the approval of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.<\/p>\n
Al-Sisi currently holds legislative authority, as Egypt has yet to elect a parliament since dissolving the last elected assembly in mid-2012.<\/p>\n
The cabinet approved the draft law one day after militants said to be linked to the ISIL group carried out coordinated attacks on a number of security checkpoints in Egypt\u2019s restive Sinai Peninsula.
\nMedia reports at the time had suggested that more than 60 soldiers were killed in the attacks. The Egyptian army, however, has put the death toll among security forces at 21.
\nAccording to the terms of the draft legislation, anyone who publishes news about terrorist attacks that contradict with official statements will face \u201cno less than two years in prison.\u201d
\nThe journalists syndicate said certain articles of the proposed law were unconstitutional and would simply lead to reduced press freedoms rather than contribute to the fight against \u201cterrorism.\u201d
\nIt added that the draft legislation would \u2013 if applied \u2013 adversely affect the right of journalists to acquire information from different sources and ultimately limit them to information from only one side.
\n\u201cJournalists will not accept the articles [of the draft] that restrict press freedom,\u201d syndicate chairman Yehia Qallash told Anadolu Agency.
\nLast month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Egyptian authorities were holding 18 reporters behind bars \u2013 the highest number, it noted, since records began being kept in 1990.
\nAccording to the CPJ, six journalists had been sentenced to life in prison, while several others were being held in pre-trial detention.
\nEgypt has remained in the throes of political violence since the military ousted Mohamed Morsi, the country\u2019s first freely elected president, in mid-2013 following protests against his administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Egypt\u2019s journalists syndicate has criticized proposed anti-terrorism legislation, warning that the draft law contradicted the country\u2019s constitution and would violate press freedoms. \u201cThe draft law represents a clear setback for the freedom of thought and press,” the Cairo-based syndicate said in a Monday statement. Last week, Egypt\u2019s cabinet approved the draft law, which is now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000069102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-20058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000069102,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20058.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20058.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20058.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20058.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20058.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20058.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000069102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20058"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=20058"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=20058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}