The State Council Administrative Court canceled the Shura Council’s decision to dismiss the editor of a state-owned newspaper on Tuesday and ordered that the editor be reinstated.
Dozens of journalists from state-owned and privately-owned newspapers gathered at the court today to show solidarity with Al-Gomhurriya Editor-in-Chief Gamal Abdel Rahim. They chanted slogans calling for freedom of the press, and against Shura Council speaker Ahmed Fahmy, who also heads the Supreme Press Council.
Fahmy suspended Rahim on Wednesday, 17 October after the Armed Forces objected to a story Al-Gomhurriya ran the same day claiming that former military council head Hussein Tantawi and his former deputy Sami Anan were expected to be banned from travel due to corruption investigations.
The suspension caused an outcry among journalists against what they say are Muslim Brotherhood attempts to dominate state media. Both the Armed Forces and President Mohamed Morsy’s administration quickly issued statements condemning the story.
The Journalists Syndicate had rejected the suspension, saying that they would protest Rahim’s removal and would support him in his lawsuit. The syndicate board said it is ready to file a lawsuit against Fahmy for violating the syndicate’s regulations.
Rahim said in his complaint that the decision to suspend him is “unprecedented” in the history of the Egyptian press and violates Law 96/1996, which does not allow the suspension of an editor-in-chief under any circumstances.
The complaint argued that the Shura Council appointed Rahim on 8 August for a period of three years, which contradicts the suspension.
Edited translation from MENA
