Egypt court rules closure of Jazeera broadcast

An Administrative Court ordered on Tuesday to stop the broadcasting of a number of satellite channels including Al-Jazeera, local media reported.

Other channels banned from broadcasting include Al-Quds, Al-Yarmouk and Ahrar 25 January channels, the state-run Egynews portal reported.

The court also ordered the closure of their offices.

The cases were raised by Mahmoud Farghali, head of the Social Justice Party against the ministers of investment and information, as well as the heads of the channels. The case claimed that the accused have no licenses to broadcast while they have also been broadcasting false information that are conducive to destabilizing Egypt and causing divisions.

According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, a privately owned daily, permits are issued to channels by the ministers of investment, communication and information technology and information. In a joint statement issued last Thursday, these ministers said that Al-Jazeera has no legal document that justifies its work in Egypt.

They added that the channel has raised a wave of public discontent due to its coverage that has spread lies and rumors, hurting the country's national security. In their statement, the ministries called all international media to abide by Egyptian law while operating in Egyptian territories.

The Qatari Al-Jazeera channel has come under heavy criticism in Egypt for its backing of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, ousted by the military on July 3. On Sunday, Egyptian authorities deported three foreign journalists working with Al-Jazeera, saying that they worked without permits.

The other two channels have been sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood’s regime in their coverage.

On Monday, the Administrative Court also ordered the cease of broadcast of Islamist channel Al-Hafez, following a lawsuit accusing one of the channel's show presenters of libel.

Ahmad Ezzat, a lawyer with the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, told Mada Masr that there are two sides to the case.

"There is the permits aspect, which means that they had applied for permits but didn't wait for an authorization before working,” he said.

"The other level is related to content and if they proved it to be inciting divisions, the penalty cannot be generalizing by closing the medium," he said, adding that the actual person, be it the reporter or the head of the channel, is the one to be penalized.