Cablegate: Court Sentences Journalists to Prison for Defaming

VZCZCXRO4683
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #0058 0111129
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111129Z JAN 10 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4709
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000058

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/NESCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2030
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM ELAB SOCI EG
SUBJECT: COURT SENTENCES JOURNALISTS TO PRISON FOR DEFAMING
POPULAR ACTORS

REF: A. CAIRO 50 B. 09 CAIRO 1971 C. 04 CAIRO 1708 Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor Donald A. Blome for reason 1.4 (d).

1.(U) On January 6, a Cairo court sentenced the editor of the defunct weekly tabloid newspaper "Al-Balagh Al-Gadid" and a journalist from the paper to one-year prison terms for defaming a number of named popular male actors in an October 2009 article alleging their involvement in a gay prostitution ring at a downtown Cairo hotel. The court also fined the editor and the journalist LE 40,000 (USD 7,000) each. Shortly after the article's publication in October, the Supreme Press Council, an administrative GOE body, revoked the paper's license, effectively shutting it down (ref B). The article in the formerly low-circulation paper also alleged that some members of the prostitution ring have AIDS.

2.(C) Hafez Abu Seada, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights which monitored the trial, described the case as a non-political defamation suit, and emphasized that the journalists had no evidence for their story. Abu Seada said the journalists alienated the judge by refusing to admit the article was fabricated. He noted that during the trial the journalists claimed they had videotaped proof of the prostitution, and then failed to present any evidence. Human rights attorney Negad El-Borai called the paper's article "awful," stressing that the journalists had no sourcing. El-Borai expected that the judge would decrease the prison sentence on appeal, and opined that public statements by the Press Syndicate Chairman opposing jail terms could have an effect on the judge. Both contacts asserted that the GOE did not pressure the judge to sentence the journalists.

3.(C) Comment: It appears that the jail sentences in this non-political case resulted from a combination of factors: poor reporting, an incompetent defense strategy, and the social sensitivity of allegations of homosexuality against popular actors. Prison sentences against journalists are rare, with most judges deciding on fines in both political and non-political cases. Despite President Mubarak's 2004 pledge to abolish prison sentences against journalists in defamation cases (ref C), the GOE has not made the required legislative changes. SCOBEY

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