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Amnesty Reports Chilling Details of Egypt Press Crackdown

Associated Press

   CAIRO, EGYPT - Journalism in Egypt has effectively become a crime over
   the past four years, as authorities clamp down on media outlets and
   muzzle dissent, Amnesty International said in a report released Sunday.

   As the number of coronavirus infections in Egypt continues to rise, the
   government is strengthening its control over information, the
   London-based rights group said, instead of upholding transparency
   during the public health crisis.

   "The Egyptian authorities have made it very clear that anyone who
   challenges the official narrative will be severely punished," said
   Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director.

   Amnesty documented 37 cases of journalists detained in the government's
   escalating crackdown on press freedoms, many charged with "spreading
   false news" or "misusing social media" under a broad 2015
   counterterrorism law that has expanded the definition of terror to
   include all kinds of dissent.

   An Egyptian press officer did not respond to multiple calls seeking
   comment, but authorities have previously denied rights violations and
   justified arrests on national security grounds.

   Following general-turned-president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's rise to
   power in 2013, most of Egypt's television programs and newspapers have
   taken the government position and steered clear of criticism, or else
   disappeared. Many privately owned Egyptian news outlets have been
   quietly acquired by companies affiliated with the country's
   intelligence service.

   12 journalists jailed

   But even a pro-government voice hasn't spared 12 journalists working
   for state-owned media outlets, who have landed in jail for expressing
   various private views on social media, the report said.

   One of them is Atef Hasballah, editor-in-chief of the AlkararPress
   website. When he challenged the Health Ministry's coronavirus case
   count on his Facebook page last month, he was promptly bundled into a
   police van and detained on suspicion of "joining a terrorist
   organization."

   Egypt's public prosecutor warned in a recent statement that those who
   spread "false news" about the coronavirus may face up to five years
   imprisonment and steep fines. At least 12 individuals have been caught
   up in the COVID-19-motivated crackdown so far, according to Amnesty.

   Last month, authorities blocked a local news site that covered calls by
   activists to release political prisoners over fears of the coronavirus
   spreading in Egypt's crowded prisons. Separately, Egypt expelled a
   correspondent for The Guardian newspaper over an article that indicated
   the coronavirus infection rate may be higher than officially reported.

   The journalists interviewed by Amnesty reported increasingly direct
   state intervention in their coverage. Many working for government-owned
   or aligned papers said they receive specific instructions via WhatsApp
   on what to report and to omit. For instance, a directive on how to
   handle U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to end the
   Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year asked reporters not to mention
   the plan's violations of long-standing Arab policies, as Trump and
   el-Sissi have cultivated close ties.

   Those who do not hew the official line, such as by praising prison
   conditions and smearing the state's political opponents, "lost their
   jobs, were interrogated or imprisoned," one journalist was quoted as
   saying. "I cannot even imagine that someone could refuse to comply."

   Marking World Press Freedom Day, Amnesty urged Egyptian authorities to
   halt their censorship, harassment and intimidation of journalists--and
   to release those detained "solely for carrying out their work."