Egypt plans law to jail reporters who report | World News |Axisoflogic.com

The Egyptian cabinet drafted a new legislation as part of the country's terrorism laws that would seek prison sentences for journalists who report on terrorism-related statistics that do not match figures issued by the government.

The draft has been sent to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi for his final approval, as he is the sole elected official in the country that can issue and approve laws. Since the ouster of the first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the country has not had a sitting parliament.

If the law is approved, journalists reporting on “false” figures would face up at least two years in jail. The article concerned outlaws the intentional publication of “false news or data about any terrorist operations that contradicts the official statements released by the relevant authorities”.

The move comes days after an Islamic State group-affiliated group failed to capture a town in Sinai region in east of Egypt. Several soldiers were killed in the fighting over the town. The government criticized foreign media for exaggerating the number of the soldiers killed.

Egypt’s justice minister, Ahmed el-Zind, said his government had no choice but impose such measure to protect its citizens. "The government has the duty to defend citizens from wrong information."

"I hope no one interprets this as a restriction on media freedoms. It's just about numbers (in death tolls)," el-Zind told the French news agency AFP.

"If the army says 10 died, don't report 20."

But rights groups argue the legislation represents yet further crackdown on media and journalists.

“It [the proposed law] is against the freedom of press, especially press that is critical and professional,” Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), a Cairo-based NGO, said and compared it with the actions of the Nazis. “We are faced with an article that pushes the media towards Goebbels’ media – the media of one opinion and one narrative.”

There are more than 18 journalists in prison in Egypt, an all-time high according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Three Al-Jazeera journalists were imprisoned for over a year over terrorism charges after their reporting on the coup against Morsi by President el-Sisi. They are out on bail after months of international outcry.

A few weeks ago, Al-Jazeera Arabic renowned journalist Ahmed Mansour was detained briefly over the weekend in Berlin airport in Germany upon the request of the Egyptian authorities. He was released few days later after charges against him did not hold up.

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