Egypt signals changes to anti-terror law after media backlash

Egypt’s government Wednesday signalled it could amend a draft controversial anti-terror law that proposes jailing reporters for contradicting official statements, with the justice minister conceding media should have been consulted.

The government last week approved the law, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi must ratify, but the draft has come under attack from the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate and political parties over a controversial article that restricts press freedoms.

Article 33 of the draft stipulates a minimum two-year prison sentence for anyone who reports details of militant attacks that contradict official statements.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and several ministers met a group of senior editors to contain the backlash.

Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind said during the meeting that the journalists’ syndicate should have been consulted before formulating the draft.

“The press syndicate should have been consulted about this law, and the law should have been proposed for public debate,” a cabinet statement quoted Zind as saying.

The newspaper editors and the syndicate demanded the article be removed from the anti-terrorism draft law.

“We proposed that it be in a different law and its wording should be different. There are also other articles in that law that need rephrasing,” syndicate chief Yehia Qalash told AFP.

“The government has the intention to amend Article 33. We will present a different phrasing for this article and others later tonight.”

Zind had told AFP earlier that the article was in response to coverage of a jihadist attack on soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.

The military said 21 soldiers were killed in the July 1 attack, after foreign and local media reported much higher figures given by security sources.

The attacks came two days after state prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bombing in Cairo, prompting Sisi to demand tougher laws and faster trials for alleged militants.

Dia Rashwan, a former head of the journalists’ syndicate, told AFP he had proposed to the cabinet fines instead of prison sentences for offenders.

His proposal would require courts to prove intent and malice in publishing “false” news on militant attacks, he said.

“People I have spoken to on many levels (in the government) have expressed a willingness to resolve the matter,” he said.

Government officials would not confirm whether they intended to change the provision.

Egypt has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in Sinai since the army, then led by Sisi, overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The attacks have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, while more than 1,400 people, mostly Morsi supporters, have been killed in a crackdown on protests.