Egyptian human rights groups and the opposition are worried that a recent decision to restrict media coverage of trial hearings will compromise the right of the public to follow trials, especially those related to corruption cases.
“This decision by the [state-appointed] Supreme Judicial Council violates guarantees for fair and unbiased trials, given that public hearings are enshrined in the Egyptian constitution and international conventions,” said the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, a non-government group, in a statement.
Siam Seri , chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, explains that airing parts of court hearings or printing pictures of defendants in newspapers are strictly banned “with the aim of preserving the accused’s rights and protecting their dignity”. He told a press conference in Cairo on Sunday that the media could still carry illustrations of hearings. “But illustrators will be liable to the law if they make mistakes,” he added without specifying penalties against violators of the ban.
Sudden ruling
The restrictions came a few days after the presiding judge of a criminal court in Cairo passed a sudden ruling midway in the trial of Hesham Tala’at Mustafa, one of Egypt’s key real estate developers, on charges of ordering the murder of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim. The ruling, which commuted the death sentence against Mustafa to 15 years, generated massive comments in the media.
“We respect the decision. But court hearings are held in foreign countries in public without having such restrictions,” said Makram Mohammad, the chairman of the Egyptian Press Syndicate.