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Egypt Cabinet Approves Draft Bill Governing Media and Press

May 17, 2016
Previous protest in front of the press syndicate, on April 28, 2016. Photo: Asmaa Gamal, Aswat Masriya

Egypt’s minister of planning announced on Monday the cabinet’s approval of a new press and media bill. The draft law has been prepared by a national committee for press and media legislation, which was headed by the minister of planning. The committee started its work on the draft bill about two years ago. Minister of Planning Ashraf Al-Araby said in a press conference on Monday that the cabinet’s approval of the draft bill “is considered an important step towards activating the articles of the constitution that guarantee the independence of press and media.” The cabinet sent the bill to Egypt’s State Council to review it. It will then be sent to the House of Representatives in order to issue the law that creates a supreme council to regulate the media as well as national commissions for the press and the media. The bill includes 230 articles that govern the work of the media. Earlier in May, security forces raided the building of the press syndicate in downtown Cairo, in what the press syndicate described in a statement then as “unprecedented.” The raid was orchestrated in order to arrest two journalists, Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka. The…


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