Update: MOI drops charges against Youm7 editor-in-chief, journalist

The Interior Ministry dropped charges against editors and journalists working for the privately owned newspapers Youm7 and Al-Masry Al-Youm on Monday.

On Saturday, Youm7 editor-in-chief Khaled Salah and reporter Sayed Falah were released on LE10,000 bail after being taken into custody for investigations into accusations of harming national security and spreading panic. The Interior Ministry filed the charges after the paper published a report about an alleged terrorist attack targeting one of the president's cars on June 11.

The Interior Ministry filed similar charges in April against Al-Masry Al-Youm employees, accusing them of spreading false news after publishing an investigation on police torture and violations against activists. The ministry took action after the reportage, called "Cracks in the police suit," went viral on social media.

"The Interior Ministry is keen on strengthening the relationship with the people and the media. In addition, Youm7 already published a retraction. That's why the ministry dropped the two complaints," Youm7 reported in a statement sent by the Interior Ministry to the office of Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat.

After Salah and Falah were taken into custody, the Journalists Syndicate called for an urgent meeting with the chief editors of major local newspapers to address the increasing violations against journalists by police forces. Syndicate officials were unavailable to comment to Mada Masr on the outcome of the meeting.

Dandarawy al-Hawary, the executive chief editor of Youm7, told Mada Masr that Salah and Falah were interrogated for 12 hours, from 9 am to 9 pm.

“Disturbing national security is a vague expression that was used before the revolution,” Hawary asserted, adding that other newspapers, such as privately owned Al-Watan, published the same news, but weren’t summoned by the prosecution.

“As soon as the presidency and the Ministry of Interior denied the incident, we published a retraction and removed the article from the website,” explained Hawary, who insisted the newspaper has nothing to benefit from publishing false information.

During the investigation, Salah and Falah were reportedly questioned about the nature of the article, how they obtained the news, and who wrote and edited it. “By law, a journalist questioned by authorities has the right to protect his sources,” Hawary commented.

The newspaper’s legal consultant, Anwar al-Refaei, stated on Saturday that by filing these charges, Interior Ministry was neglecting Youm7's important role in the Egyptian media landscape, and its commitment to protecting the stability of the nation. Refaei added that the ministry overlooked the fact that Youm7 was the last to publish the news and the first to issue a retraction.

Youm7 has been largely supportive of the current Egyptian government.

Refaei asserted that the conflict between the Interior Ministry and the Egyptian press is only going to create tension at a difficult time for the country.