Journalist’s trial adjourned to Sept 18

The trial of Al-Masry Al-Youm correspondent in North Sinai governorate Ahmed Abu Deraa has been adjourned to September 18, the newspaper reported Sunday, to allow the court time to look into the documentation surrounding the case.

Abu Deraa was arrested earlier this month and is facing trial in a military court on charges of “deliberately spreading abroad false news, reports and rumors about the domestic situation in the country and spreading false news on an Arabic satellite channel about the Armed Forces and the results of its operations in North Sinai during the army’s raid on the village of Sheikh Zayed. This reduced confidence in the state, its prestige and regard for it,” according to a source quoted in the privately owned newspaper.

Al-Masry Al-Youm had reported that Abu Deraa took photographs in areas off limits to civilians without permission to do so. He is also alleged to have taken pictures illegally in an area of the Suez Canal.

On Sunday, the Association for Freedom of Thought an Expression (AFTE) issued a statement condemning the decision by military prosecution to refer Abu Deraa to military court, describing it as a violation of freedom of expression “that reflects negatively on the democratic process in Egypt after 30th of June” because a free press “is the most important monitor of the integrity and credibility of a democratic transition.”

AFTE said this type of persecution “limits the ability of journalists to monitor events and cover news for the public, which is not only a violation of their rights as journalists but also imposes unnecessary limitations of the freedom of exchange of information and the public’s right to knowledge.”

AFTE said that “protecting the higher interests of the country” can be used as an excuse “to allow the state to break any commitment to the freedom and rights of its citizens.”

Abu Deraa was awarded the Samir Kasir Award for Freedom of the Press this year for an investigative piece on human trafficking in Sinai.