Egypt: Journalists Spend Their Lives Behind Bars In Uncertainty. Journalist Shaimaa Samy's Pre-Trial Detention Was Renewed Again.

Location: Egypt, Cairo
Date: September 9, 2020

Available in: 🇸🇦  عربي

Supreme National Security Prosecution Office renewed journalist Shaimaa Samy’s pre-trial detention period again. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is noting the severeness and absence of fair trial guarantees in Egypt. Pre-trial detention became a pillar of injustice in Egypt.

On September 7, 2020, journalist Shaimaa Samy was ordered 15 days more in pre-trial detention pending case no. 535\2020. Shaimaa is facing charges of spreading false news, membership of a banned terrorist group, and using social media platforms to disrupt national security and spread rumors.

Shaimaa has been detained since May 20 and her detention is renewed with no trial or justification. The day of her detention, she wrote on her Facebook account that national security forces raided her house and asked her to pack some of her clothes. For 10 days her whereabouts were unknown. Her family and lawyer didn’t know where she was kept or neither did they have access to her until May 30. Shymaa’s imprisonment is an extension to an overall policy by the Egyptian authorities to target and intimidate press freedom.

The enforced disappearance of journalists is becoming a standard procedure by national security in Egypt. Journalists and political activists are subjected to torture and other forms of degradation in their enforced disappearance. Pre-trial detention is used as an instrument to arbitrarily imprison journalists indefinitely. Over the past months, CFWIJ has flagged the issue of arbitrary pre-trial detention in Egypt in five statements. We have noticed the expansion of arbitrary detention under auspices of national security and military intelligence instructions.

Arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance practices in Egypt are demolishing the basis of fair trial and judiciary system integrity. These defects of the justice system is an embodiment of the state’s inclusive approach towards free speech and journalists in general.

Whilst legislations are reviewed and amended around the world to prohibit the imprisonment of journalists for publishing, Egyptian legislations are expanding the usage of pre-trial detention and imprisonment against journalists.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism denounces the systematic usage of pre-trial detention as an instrument to chain journalists and press freedom by the Egyptian authorities and calls for the immediate release of woman journalist Shaimaa. CFWIJ calls upon the Egyptian regime to show a will to improve press freedom by reviewing the legislations that permit indefinite pre-trial detention.

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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

The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.

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