COURTS FINE PRO-GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPERS IN LIBEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000070

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/NESCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2029
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KIRF EG
SUBJECT: COURTS FINE PRO-GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPERS IN LIBEL
CASES

REF: A. 08 CAIRO 2452

B. 08 CAIRO 2405

C. 08 CAIRO 2280

D. 08 CAIRO 2199

E. 08 CAIRO 2198

F. 08 CAIRO 2152 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: ECPO Mincouns William R. Stewart for reason 1.4 (d).


1. (C) On December 21, 2008, a Cairo court ordered the
pro-government paper "Al-Ahram" and one of its journalists,
Gaber Asfour, to pay 50,000 Egyptian Pounds (8,000 USD) in
compensation to Sheikh Youssef El-Bedry for characterizing
El-Bedry as a "terrorist" in an August 2007 article. The
"Al-Ahram" article labeled El-Bedry as a "terrorist" in
response to his suit against a secular poet, Ahmed Moataz
El-Hegazi, who allegedly insulted El-Bedry in one of his
poems. Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary-General of the Egyptian
Organization for Human Rights, told us that the court bowed
to pressure from Islamists supporting Sheikh El-Bedry as part
of a campaign against secular intellectuals, such as the
"Al-Ahram" journalist Asfour. Moataz El-Feigery, Executive
Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies,
commented to us that many judges are religiously observant
themselves, and are therefore sympathetic to sheikhs such as
El-Bedry.


2. (C) On January 7, a Cairo appeals court ordered Mohammed
Ali Ibrahim, editor-in-chief of the pro-government newspaper
"Al-Gomhuria," to pay 50,000 Egyptian Pounds (8,000 USD) in
compensation to Court of Cassation Judge Mahmoud Mekki for
damaging Mekki's reputation. The court found that the paper
reported inaccurately that Judge Mekki participated in the
May 2007 Doha Forum on Democracy and Political Reform in the
Arab World, which "Al-Gomhuria" described as hostile to
Egypt. In fact, Mekki did not attend the forum.
"Al-Gomhuria" had also published another article alleging
that Mekki held a 2007 meeting with other judges to plot a
coup d'etat against the GOE. Hisham Kassem, founder of the
leading independent newspaper "Al-Masry Al-Youm" commented to
us that the GOE had little political interest in either of
these two cases, and therefore simply allowed the courts to
make independent decisions. Kassem noted that it is
"somewhat unusual" for courts to rule against pro-government
papers.


3. (C) Comment: Recent court decisions against journalists
have targeted the independent press for insulting the
government or establishment figures (reftels). In November
2008, a district attorney decided not to file charges against
three pro-government papers for violating the gag order on
the case against regime insider Hisham Talaat Mustafa for
murdering Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim, while the
government ordered the trial of journalists and editors from
two independent papers, scheduled to begin January 22, for
publishing similar information (ref A). The court decisions
against two pro-government papers may serve GOE interests by
diluting somewhat the recent series of judgments against the
independent press, with the false implication that libel
verdicts are apolitical, targeting any paper that violates
the law.
SCOBEY