Military court sentences journalist to year in prison

Journalist Hatem Aboul Nour was sentenced to a year in prison on Tuesday by the North Cairo Military Court, after being found guilty of impersonating a military officer while reporting for the independent daily newspaper Al-Watan.

Nour was arrested two months ago and has been held in a military detention facility ever since. His wife, Wessam Abdel Samad, said he pretended to be a military officer while conducting phone interviews in order to obtain sensitive information from his sources.

"He did not wear a military uniform, he just created an imaginary character of an army officer to some of his sources over the phone. Yes, he committed a professional mistake, but the punishment was too harsh," Samad said in a televised interview with the privately owned ONTV channel on Wednesday.

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) issued a statement on Thursday condemning the sentence, adding that the ruling "increases the doubts about the seriousness of the Egyptian state's will to guarantee freedom of expression.”

The military court put Nour on trial for his journalism, not for impersonating an officer, argued Gamal Eid, a rights lawyer and executive director of ANHRI.

"We all know that the minister of defense [Abdel Fattah al-Sisi] is the one who is ruling the country now, and trying a journalist in a military court is a declaration of the ruler's intention to deal with issues related to freedom of expression," he told Mada Masr.

Nour’s incarceration comes on the heels of a continued crackdown on journalists since 2011. Starting in February 2011 when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) assumed power prior to former President Mohamed Morsi’s election, civilians have increasingly been put before military tribunals.

More than 12,000 civilians have been referred to military trials since the January 25 revolution, and journalists in particular have been targeted, even during Morsi’s rule.

Under Morsi's government, Sinai-based freelance journalist Mohamed Sabry was referred to a military tribunal for allegedly filming near a military area. Sabry's case is still under investigation.

Following Morsi's ouster, the case of Ahmed Abu Deraa, another journalist based in Sinai, came to the forefront. The award-winning journalist was accused of spreading false information regarding the military's operation in Sinai.

But opponents of Abu Deraa's detention said he challenged the rhetoric of pro-army media sources, and reported on alleged violations of the military against civilians in Sinai.

Abu Deraa received a six month suspended sentence after months of international pressure condemning his trial.