2014 prison census - Egypt: Samhi Mustafa, Abdullah al-Fakharny, Mohamed al-Adly
- Document source:
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Date:
17 December 2014
| Samhi Mustafa, Rassd | |
|---|---|
| Medium: | Internet |
| Charge: | Anti-state |
| Imprisoned: | August 25, 2013 |
| Abdullah al-Fakharny, Rassd | |
| Medium: | Internet |
| Charge: | Anti-state |
| Imprisoned: | August 25, 2013 |
| Mohamed al-Adly, Amgad TV | |
| Medium: | Television |
| Charge: | Anti-state |
| Imprisoned: | August 25, 2013 |
Mustafa, co-founder of the news website Rassd, Rassd Executive Director Abdullah al-Fakharny, and Amgad TV presenter Mohamed al-Adly were arrested on August 25, 2013, in the home of the son of a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The three journalists were being held in Tora prison, southeast of Cairo.
In February 2014, the three were indicted in a Cairo criminal court along with 51 other defendants on charges of "spreading chaos" and "forming an operations room to direct the Muslim Brotherhood to defy the government" during the dispersal of the sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawiya in Cairo, where Egyptians had gathered to decry the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. The dispersal left hundreds dead, according to news reports. The Egyptian government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organization.
The prosecutor-general also accused the Muslim Brotherhood of using several media outlets, including Rassd and Amgad TV, to support its plot to take over the government and spread lies about the military and the government.
Ahmed Helmy, Mustafa's lawyer, denied all of the charges against the journalists. Their trial was ongoing in late 2014.
CPJ did not include the three in its 2013 census because the organization had not determined that the allegations against them were related to their work as journalists.
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