African Media

The head of an Egyptian journalists union and two board members have in recent weeks been given suspended two year jail sentences and fined for harbouring fugitives. The charges against Yehia Kalash, president of the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate, Gamal Abdel Rahim and Khaled Elbalshy stem from a police raid on the union’s building in May. Two journalists, wanted by police over protests against the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, had taken refuge at the building. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said the charges against members of the Journalists’ Syndicate was not an issue of freedom of speech. However, press freedom advocates such as the Committee to Protect Journalists have said the journalists union is being punished for working to protect journalists from harassment, threats and arrests. Meanwhile, a number of journalists continue to be held behind bars in Egypt often without charge. One such case is photographer Mahmoud Abu Zeid ‘Shawkan’ who has spent more than 1,000 days i