About 200
Egyptian journalists have rejected a recent policy declaration by
newspaper editors pledging near-blind support to the state and banning
criticism of the police, army and judiciary in their publications.
In a statement posted Sunday on social media networks, the journalists said fighting terrorism was both a duty and an honor but has nothing to do with the "voluntary surrender" of the freedom of expression.
"Standing up to terrorism with a shackled media and sealed lips means offering the nation to extremism as an easy prey and turning public opinion into a blind creature unaware of the direction from which it is being hit or how to deal with it," said the statement.
Security officials confirmed the authenticity of the statement, saying the journalists who signed it represented the full spectrum of ideologies, from Islamist to leftist and secularist. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Last week's statement by editors pledging support to the government came in response to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's call on Egyptians to rally behind him and his government in the face of terrorism following the killing by suspected Islamic militants of 30 soldiers, the deadliest attack on the Egyptian army in decades.
The dispute between the journalists and their editors is the latest episode in Egypt's struggle between authorities and their loyalist media who give security precedence over nearly all else and a small but vocal pro-democracy camp made up mostly of secular and leftist youth groups.
The dispute has arisen from the recent erosion of many of the freedoms Egyptians won when they rose up against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. At the top of that list is the freedom to protest; a law adopted late last year criminalizes any street demonstration without prior police permission.
Dozens of activists, some as young as 20, have been tried, convicted and sentenced to jail for organizing or taking part in peaceful demonstrations since the law was enforced in November.
A much harsher crackdown targets members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the now-banned Islamist group that has been labelled a terrorist organization by the state. Authorities have killed hundreds of Islamists and jailed thousands since the military ouster in July 2013 of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
El-Sissi, who took office in June after a landslide election victory the previous month, says the law mirrors similar regulations in the West and is meant to restore law and order in a country mired in turmoil since 2011. El-Sissi led the ouster of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, amid street demonstrations by millions demanding his removal.
The newspaper editors' policy declaration has caused an uproar among pro-democracy activists and appeared to signal a throwback to Mubarak's days or the rule of the charismatic but authoritarian Gamal Abdel-Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s.
It said editors would take measures to halt what it called the "infiltration by elements supporting terrorism" in their publications. Significantly, the editors also stated their "rejection" of what they called attempts to cast doubt on state institutions, basic policy choices and criticism of the army, police or judiciary that "may reflect negatively on their performance."
Other media have taken similar stands in public, with one private TV channel saying it intended to bar certain guests from its political programs on charges of being "rumor mongers" — parlance for government critics. Several talk show hosts have meanwhile either been briefly taken off the air in the middle of their programs or prevented altogether from hosting their shows.
In a statement posted Sunday on social media networks, the journalists said fighting terrorism was both a duty and an honor but has nothing to do with the "voluntary surrender" of the freedom of expression.
"Standing up to terrorism with a shackled media and sealed lips means offering the nation to extremism as an easy prey and turning public opinion into a blind creature unaware of the direction from which it is being hit or how to deal with it," said the statement.
Security officials confirmed the authenticity of the statement, saying the journalists who signed it represented the full spectrum of ideologies, from Islamist to leftist and secularist. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Last week's statement by editors pledging support to the government came in response to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's call on Egyptians to rally behind him and his government in the face of terrorism following the killing by suspected Islamic militants of 30 soldiers, the deadliest attack on the Egyptian army in decades.
The dispute between the journalists and their editors is the latest episode in Egypt's struggle between authorities and their loyalist media who give security precedence over nearly all else and a small but vocal pro-democracy camp made up mostly of secular and leftist youth groups.
The dispute has arisen from the recent erosion of many of the freedoms Egyptians won when they rose up against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. At the top of that list is the freedom to protest; a law adopted late last year criminalizes any street demonstration without prior police permission.
Dozens of activists, some as young as 20, have been tried, convicted and sentenced to jail for organizing or taking part in peaceful demonstrations since the law was enforced in November.
A much harsher crackdown targets members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the now-banned Islamist group that has been labelled a terrorist organization by the state. Authorities have killed hundreds of Islamists and jailed thousands since the military ouster in July 2013 of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
El-Sissi, who took office in June after a landslide election victory the previous month, says the law mirrors similar regulations in the West and is meant to restore law and order in a country mired in turmoil since 2011. El-Sissi led the ouster of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, amid street demonstrations by millions demanding his removal.
The newspaper editors' policy declaration has caused an uproar among pro-democracy activists and appeared to signal a throwback to Mubarak's days or the rule of the charismatic but authoritarian Gamal Abdel-Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s.
It said editors would take measures to halt what it called the "infiltration by elements supporting terrorism" in their publications. Significantly, the editors also stated their "rejection" of what they called attempts to cast doubt on state institutions, basic policy choices and criticism of the army, police or judiciary that "may reflect negatively on their performance."
Other media have taken similar stands in public, with one private TV channel saying it intended to bar certain guests from its political programs on charges of being "rumor mongers" — parlance for government critics. Several talk show hosts have meanwhile either been briefly taken off the air in the middle of their programs or prevented altogether from hosting their shows.
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