AJE journalists charged with falsifying news, threatening security

The public prosecution has accused three journalists working for the Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera English of producing fabricated news with the intent of harming Egypt’s image abroad, reported on Thursday the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA).

The journalists were arrested last month after the National Security Apparatus accused them of using two hotel rooms to hold meetings with Muslim Brotherhood members and  "broadcast news that harms national security as well as spread false information for Al Jazeera without the approval of relevant authorities,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior in late December.

The defendants include Mohamed Fahmy, Al Jazeera’s English-language bureau chief, correspondent Peter Greste and producer Baher Mohamed. Fahmy is of Egyptian origin but holds a Canadian passport, while Greste is Australian. Mohamed is an Egyptian.

The prosecution accused the defendants of fabricating news stories that Egypt was going through a civil war to serve the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood group, which was recently designated a banned, terrorist organization in Egypt; as well as inciting the international community against the nation.

The journalists have been charged with possession of wireless communication devices and broadcasting equipment without the required authorization,  spreading false news to threaten public security and possession of fake footage they intended to use to harm Egypt’s image and reputation, according to the statement.

The prosecution dismissed allegations that the journalists’ arrest was a violation of freedom of the press, and asserted that the laws regulating media were carefully taken into consideration in the case.

The “prosecution is not concerned with conflicts among different political fractions,” the statement added.

Last September, Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr, the Egyptian station, was officially banned from broadcasting after the investment minister asserted that the channel was not officially registered with the Egyptian authorities, and was broadcasting unlawfully.

Shortly after Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr was shut down, security forces raided Al Jazeera English’s Cairo bureau, confiscating broadcasting equipment and arresting the office’s financial manager, Mostafa Hawa, a source at the channel told Mada Masr. One day earlier, authorities had deported three foreign Al Jazeera reporters for allegedly using unlicensed satellite transmitters and working in Egypt without the proper permits.

A recent study released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that Egypt was the ninth-worst offender in 2013 for jailing journalists. The list was led by Turkey, Iran and China.

At the time the study was released in early December, Egyptian authorities had detained five journalists in 2013, as compared to none in 2012, the study reported.

Journalist Mahmoud Abdel Nabi, from the Rassd News Network, Al Jazeera correspondents Mohamed Bader and Abdallah al-Shami and freelance journalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid are currently in custody.

Following former President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster on July 3, the military-supported government detained dozens of local and international journalists, particularly those viewed as critical of the government or sympathetic to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Most of them were later released, the report said.