H. E. Muhammad Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Office of the President
Heliopolis, Cairo
Egypt

Vienna, 1 February 1996

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condemns the sentencing of the editor of an Egyptian opposition paper to one year in prison.

On 31 January 1996 Magdi Ahmed Hussien, editor-in-chief of the Islamist bi-weekly al-Shaab, was sentenced to one year in prison with hard labour for publishing a defamatory story about the son of the Interior Minister General Hassan al-Alfi. We understand that Mr. Hussein, who was also fined E 15,000 (US$ 4,500), will appeal the sentence.

Mr. Hussein was tried under Law 93, a series of controversial amendments to the penal code setting prison terms and fines for libel and misinformation, which was overwhelmingly passed by Egypt’s parliament in 1995.

IPI believes that the use of Law 93 against Mr. Hussein and other journalists is a clear violation of the principles of the Declaration of Sana’a, principles adopted by journalists from the entire Arab world at the United Nations/UNESCO Seminar on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Arab Media (Sana’a, Yemen, 7-11 January 1996).

IPI, a global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 85 countries, urges Your Excellency to ensure that Mr. Hussein’s conviction is overturned and that Law 93, which is widely regarded as a serious threat to press freedom in Egypt, is repealed.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director