Nine rights groups have rejected the suspended one-year sentence issued by Qasr al-Nil Misdemeanor Court against former chief of Journalists Syndicate Yehia Qallash, syndicate secretary Gamal abdel Rehim; and former Head of the Freedoms Committee at the syndicate Khaled el-Balshy. The groups said they consider the verdict a ‘new black mark on the records of journalism freedom’. The groups also called on the newly-elected chief Abdel Mohsen Salama and the new syndicate board to take on their responsibilities to truly defend the syndicate members, especially Qallash, Balshy and Abdel Rehim. They added that both the investigations and the trial clearly indicated there were previous intentions against the three of them. The ruling eased the sentences to one year of prison for each, and granted a stay of execution by the court.

Source: Egypt Independent March 28, 2017 10:41 UTC