366 violations against freedom of press in second half of 2015: AFTE

Daily News Egypt
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The Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) released their second biannual report on Monday recording violations against the press and media community in Egypt in the second half of 2015.

The report noted that the number violations doubled in the second half of 2015; the media freedom programme at AFTE recorded an increase of approximately 112% compared to the first half in 2015, where only 172 cases were recorded.

The violations recorded were not related to the work environments of media organisations, but rather to the density of events occurring during the second half of the year. In particular, incidents were related to the parliamentary elections that were divided into two phases in October, November and December, having recorded 126 violations against freedom of the press.

The report reviewed the number and types of violations that those in the media were subjected to when carrying out their work, which affected their performance. The constitution and international conventions protect and guarantee the rights of journalists to report and cover events without restrictions or harassment.

According to the report, the violations recorded included prevention of media coverage, illegal detention, obstruction and confiscation or damage of equipment, deletion of material, causing injury, deductions from salaries, arbitrary dismissal, arrest, confiscation and shredding of issues, censoring articles.

They also included prohibition from writing, blocking the printing of an issue, suspension from work, raiding press institutions, raiding homes or alteration of an article without the author’s consent.

Furthermore, the report included a list of journalists in prison, whether sentenced or in pre-trial detention due to their work.

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