Egypt: Nora Younis' arrest shows worsened the state of press freedom
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Read our statement in English
Egypt: Nora Younis' arrest shows worsened the state of press freedom
June 25, 2020, Giza, Egypt - Nora Younis, the chief editor of news outlet Al-Manasa, was arrested by Egyptian police on Wednesday, June 24. She was taken into custody after her office was raided by the police - claiming to belong to the Artistic Products Police Department.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism strongly condemns Nora's arrest. We demand Egyptain authorities to release her immediately.
During the raid, the computers at Al-Manasa were also examined to verify authenticity of licensed copies and two of their laptops were also seized using the open-source Ubuntu operating system. The laptops were then taken by the police for examination at the Artistic Products Police Department's headquarters in the Mohandeseen district of Giza.
After the arrest, Nora has been reportedly taken to the Maadi Police station and has also been denied access to her lawyer and family members. According to her lawyers, Nora will be kept in custody till tomorrow to be interrogated, because the evening prosecution office is annulled because of the COVID-19 breakout precautions. They have been informed that she is facing charges of running a website without a license among other accusations.
Sharing her concerns about Nora’s arrest and the overall situation of press freedom in Egypt, CFWIJ’s founder Kiran Nazish said, “This case is important because there are already very few women leaders in the media in Egypt. Especially in Editor In Chief positions and this kind of censorship has a deeply negative effect for newsrooms and women journalists in particular. This is precisely why we think authorities in Egypt have been persistent in targeting the press. This needs to change.”
In 2017, over 500 websites were blocked in Egypt and Al-Manasa was also shut down. Although Nora paid 50,000 Egyptian pounds as fine in 2018 and also applied to adjust the website's legal status in order for it to comply with the new media law, she did not receive any response from the national committee for media. This legally makes her arrest invalid.
CFWIJ urges the Egyptian authorities to respect the rule of law and release Nora immediately, as no legal grounds exist for her to be kept behind the bars. It is an arbitrary act which denies her basic human rights to legal defence, as well as communicating with family members.
The state of press freedom in Egypt is already gloomy and women journalists have always been at the threat of being victimized as much as their male counterparts. In fact, women journalists are often subjected to gender discrimination as well. Even those working for foriegn media outlets remain at a risk of being threatened for their stories. Case in point - Guardian’s Cairo correspondent Ruth Michaelson, who was expelled from the country for her reporting on Covid-19 in March.
This move against Nora is a step further in a series of intimidations, threats, and infringements against journalists and human rights defenders in Egypt. It is high time that the government stops oppressing press freedom and allow independent media to work without the fear of being persecuted.
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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ. Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org
Read our statement in Arabic.
مصر: القبض علي نورا يونس انعكاس لمدى تردي حالة حرية الصحافة بمصر
مصر، الجيزة، 24 يونيو، 2020- ألقى عناصر من الشرطة المصرية القبض على الصحفية نورا يونس، رئيس تحرير موقع المنصة مساء الأربعاء 24 يونيو. وقد قامت قوات الأمن بالتحفظ عليها بعد اقتحامهم لمقر الموقع -مدعين كونهم من مباحث المصنفات الفنية.
يدين تحالف النساء العاملات بالصحافة بشدة القبض علي نورا يونس ويطالب السلطات المصرية بالأفراج الفوري عنها. قامت عناصر من الشرطة بفحص أجهزة الحاسوب أثناء اقتحام مقر موقع المنصة مدعين التحقق من وجود نسخ مرخصة من برامج التشغيل وقاموا بالتحفظ على جهازي اللابتوب التي تعمل ببرنامج تشغيل مفتوح المصدر UBUNTU وأخذها إلى المقر الرئيسي لمباحث المصنفات الفنية بالمهندسين. وقد تم اصطحاب نور يونس إلي قسم بوليس المعادي ومنعت من التواصل مع المحامين أو أفراد أسرتها. ووفقا لمحاميها فسيتم التحفظ عليها للتحقيق معها صباح باكر حيث أنه النيابة المسائية ملغاة بسبب الإجراءات الأحترازية لفيروس كورونا وقد تم أعلامها بأنها تواجه تهمة إدارة موقع دون ترخيص من بين عدة اتهامات أخرى.
يذكر أنه منذ 2017 يوجد ما يزيد عن 500 موقع محجوب في مصر من ضمنها موقع المنصة. وعلى الرغم من دفع نورا ليونس لغرامة 50000 ألف جنيه مصر في 2018 وتقدمها بطلب لتعديل أوضاع موقع المنصة وفقا لقانون الإعلام الجديد فإنها لم تتلق حتى لحظة القبض عليها ردا من الهيئة الوطنية للإعلام مما يجعل التهم الموجهة إليها دون سند قانوني. يناشد التحالف السلطات المصرية بأطلاق سراح نورا يونس واحترام سيادة القانون نظرا لعدم وجود أدلة قانونية لإبقائها خلف القضبان. كما أن رفض منحها حق الدفاع والتواصل مع محاميها وأفراد عائلتها يعتبر تصرفا تعسفيا.
أن حالة حرية الصحافة في مصر ضبابية والقبض علي نورا يونس يعد حلقة أخرى في سلسلة التهديدات، الملاحقات والانتهاكات في حق الصحفيين ومدافعي حقوق الإنسان في مصر. وقد حان الوقت أن تتوقف الحكومة عن كبت حرية الصحافة وأن تسمح للصحافة المستقلة بالعمل دون خوف من الاحتجاز.
