Journalist, editor, judge facing criminal trial on slander charges

Magdy al-Galad, the editor-in-chief of the privately owned daily newspaper Al-Watan, has been referred to criminal court along with journalist Mohamed al-Sanhoury and Central Auditing Authority head Hesham Geneina on charges of slandering the Judges Club and its board members, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Monday.

Charges were brought against the defendants pursuant to an interview Sanhoury conducted with Geneina that was published in the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (AMAY) in January of last year, when Galad was AMAY’s editor-in-chief.

At the time of the interview, Geneina was a leading figure in the independent judiciary movement, which was boycotting the Judges Club elections. In the article, Geneina was quoted as demanding investigations into allegations that Judges Club head Ahmed al-Zend was engaged in profiteering and abusing his position to acquire apartments in the North Coast.

Geneina also accused then-Justice Minister Adel Abdel Hamid of squandering funds by allocating LE1.5 million in bonuses to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members.

Following the interview’s publication, Zend and other members of the Judges Club board filed charges against the defendants. The SJC appointed investigator Khalil Omar to investigate the case.

Omar claimed his investigations suggested that Geneina had committed slander against Zend and other Judges Club members, and referred all three defendants to the criminal prosecution.

Galad is accused of failing to exercise his legally binding role to oversee content published in the newspaper, and remove any slanderous content.

Sanhoury told Mada Masr that he has not yet been officially notified of his referral to the criminal court, and had only heard the news from the media. He expressed surprise at being implicated in the case, for merely writing what Geneina said.

“I was only doing my job. Judge Geneina did not deny any of the things that were written in the interview. However, I will accept the judiciary’s decision, whatever it may be,” Sanhoury said.

Shaimaa Aboul Kheir, consultant for the International Committee to Protect Journalists in Egypt, told Mada Masr that the only person liable for any slander in the piece is Geneina himself. Aboul Kheir said that the journalist merely delivered the information, and did not commit any professional misconduct that he could be punished for.

"The implication of journalists in this case aims at terrorizing them, and warning them not to publish articles that tackle financial corruption," she warned.

Aboul Kheir added that referring the case to the criminal court — where there is a lower probability of reconciliation or a fine, and a higher probability of a jail sentence — is further proof of the systematic intimidation of journalists.

In the past month alone, three journalists have been indicted in military tribunals for their work. On October 5, Sinai-based journalist Ahmed Abu Deraa received a suspended six-month sentence on charges of publishing inaccurate information about military operations in Sinai. Also in October, Al-Watan reporter Hatem Aboul Nour was sentenced to a year in prison for impersonating military personnel to obtain information. Last week, Reuters reporter Mohamed Sabry, who was arrested in January while working in Sinai, also received a suspended six-month sentence.