Trial of Journalists Syndicate head, board members adjourned to June 18

Qasr al-Nil Misdemeanors Court adjourned the case against Journalist Syndicate head Yehia Qallash and board members Khaled al-Balshy and Gamal Abdel Rehim to June 18, until the defense team can review case documents.

Security forces cordoned off the court on Saturday morning, preventing journalists from covering the hearing.

The three defendants were summoned on Sunday, May 29, for investigation into charges of "harboring fugitives and propagating false news," in relation to the recent arrest of journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka from the Journalists Syndicate, where they were holding a sit-in earlier this month.

The three were released on LE10,000 bail, which they refused to pay after investigations dragged on until the early hours of the following day, when they were moved from the prosecution to the Qasr al-Nil Police Station.

Lawyer Tarek Negeda eventually paid their bail, but conflicting reports remain over who made the decision to post bail and where the money came from.

The three men were referred to trial the following day.

In a press conference following the court hearing on Saturday, Abdel Rehim alleged that the prosecution refused to hand over copies of the case documents.

Meanwhile, Balshy said that the case should be looked at from a broader perspective, “in terms of closing public space and the crackdown on syndicate freedoms, especially the Journalists Syndicate.”

Tensions between journalists and the Interior Ministry remain high after police forces raided the Journalists Syndicate early May and arrested Badr and Sakka, who were holding a sit-in in protest of raids conducted on their homes in light of arrest warrants issued against them.