Sisi orders the return of suspended radio announcer

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the return of the recently suspended Aida Seoudy, a radio announcer for the state-owned Radio Hits, on Tuesday. Seoudy was suspended for criticizing a court verdict acquitting former President Hosni Mubarak and aides from of killing protesters in 2011.

On her Facebook page, Seoudy stated that she received a call from the president’s office telling her that Sisi had ordered Radio Hits to end her suspension.

“I have to say that I’m happy for the support from people on Facebook and Twitter – it was the reason [behind the presidential order.] This was one more small battle in the middle of the greater battle for good that we will fight to its end,” she said.

“We have to believe in our rights and our honesty and the strength of our positions,” she continued, adding that she is grateful to the presidency for caring about the “small details.”

Following a contentious court ruling by the Criminal Court on Saturday acquitting Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his security aides of charges of killing protesters during the January 25 revolution, Seoudy expressed her sadness at the verdict on her daily show.

During her show, Seoudy said, “The principle of not commenting on judicial verdicts should be respected, but when some people take to the streets to celebrate it, this is a comment on the verdict. [Similarly], the sorrow, pain and sense of injustice should be normal, and it is a right.”

“As a citizen and as an announcer in state radio, I have to feel the pain of this verdict and it is my right to say this. I should feel the pain for youth who died for the beautiful principles of bread, freedom, social justice and human dignity,” she added.

After the show, Seoudy did not appear on her Sunday episode, stirring a wave of anger among social media users, who took to Twitter with a hashtag asking, “Where is Aida?” When the news of her suspension was confirmed, many social media users expressed anger for what they described as a state-sponsored crackdown on freedom of expression and press.

“Can we expect any change in the media when it twists the arms of its breadwinning employees if they do anything outside of the box?” Seoudy wondered following the presidential order.

Seoudy said that she received previous threats demanding that she stop posting her political opinions on Facebook, and was put under administrative investigation after airing some critical messages from her listeners .

“Can one even dream of a professional media ethics code?” she asked.