The southern Giza office of the public Prosecutor investigates in the Event of the Defamation of Human Rights Institutions and Public Figure

Cairo- January 2^nd, 2012

 

The southern Giza office of the public Prosecutor investigates in the Event of the Defamation of Human Rights Institutions and Public Figures

 

The southern Giza office of the public Prosecutor, headed by Chancellor Amr Amin starts investigation on Report no. 23, year 2012 which is submitted by lawyer\\\\ Naser Amin, head of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession and some public figures such as Mr. Hisham Kassem, the founder of Al Masry Al-Youm ", Mr. Osama Al-Ghazali Harb" member of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, Mr. Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat, chairman of the Reform and Development Part, Mr. Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor and Ms. Hala Mustafa, Journalist for Al Ahram Newspaper.

The above mentioned figures filed the official report to the prosecutor general office against the Arab Media Network “Moheet” and Al-Wafd e-portal requesting the investigation in the false news distorts the image and reputation of a group of prominent cultured people and arouse people’s hatred against them.

The Arab Media Network and Al-Wafd e-portal published news entitled "Scandal of the foreign-financing on Wikileaks". Furthermore, the network and Al-Wafd claimed that Wikileaks published news on the secret finance of the US embassy in Cairo to Egyptian human rights\\\' activists over the past years including the complainer. However, the news published on the Arab Media Network and Al-Wafd e-portal was false, not accurate, interpreted wrongly and did not include the above mentioned content, a matter which indicates that the purpose of the published news was the defamation of those who filed the report within the campaign directed against human rights activists. This occurrence is legally considered as slander and defamation, according to articles 171, 302, 305 and 306 of the Egyptian criminal code.

Although the complainers defend and support the right to freedom of opinion and expression, but they absolutely reject the attempts to incite hatred in violation of legislation and international covenants relevant to the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and political Rights, which States in Article 20 “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”. It also denounces defamation of innocent citizens, tarnishing their reputation and influencing public opinion without evidence in the issues considered by the courts for a purpose inconsistent with the Press Code of Ethics and violates the national legislation and relevant international covenants.