The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters scheduled April 10 as the date for the first hearing into a lawsuit urging the closure of Cairo\u2019s BBC office, and the revoking its licence to operate in Egypt, state-news Al-Ahram reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem filed the lawsuit claiming that the BBC broadcasts false news with the aim of undermining the stability of Egypt and defaming Egypt\u2019s reputation in the field of human rights. This comes after a recent BBC report entitled \u2018The shadow over Egypt\u2019, which addresses the country\u2019s human rights conditions and alleged torture.<\/p>\n
In response to the report, Egypt\u2019s official State Information Service (SIS) said that report contains \u201clies and allegations.\u201d On March 7, Egypt\u2019s State Information Service (SIS) handed the BBC\u2019s Cairo bureau chief a \u201cprotest note\u201d over the report, which was written by BBC journalist Orla Guerin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe author of the report, Orla Guerin aimed to impose her biased personal views and impressions through the report, she committed violations to internationally recognized professional norms, and those of the BBC itself,\u201d the SIS statement read.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Shadow over Egypt\u2019 includes interviews with families of alleged victims of torture and enforced disappearances conducted by security apparatuses.<\/p>\n
The BBC report highlighted a woman which it claimed was subjected to forced disappearance by security forces. However, the SIS report noted that the BBC reporter failed to provide any information about the woman or to prove police involvement in the case.<\/p>\n
\u201c[We have] tried twice to contact the BBC \u2018reporter\u2019 to get information about the case, but she could not be reached, this is considered a lack of evidence for police involvement in the case,\u201d the SIS statement continued.<\/p>\n
The report included the case of a young Egyptian woman alleged to have been \u201cforcibly disappeared\u201d in Egypt. The young woman, 25-year-old Zubayda Ibrahim, soon after appeared on Egyptian TV denying claims that she had been kidnapped or tortured by authorities.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor General Nabil Sadeq ordered the detention of Mona Mahmoud Mohamed, the mother of Zubayda for 15 days pending investigation over fabrication charges.<\/p>\n
The mother is accused of publishing \u201cfalse news\u201d that harm the national interests of the country, joining an illegal group that aims to suspend the provisions of the constitution to prevent state institutions and public authorities from carrying out their duties: to assault the personal freedom of citizens, to damage national unity and social peace, to use force to bring down the regime, to disrupt public order, and to jeopardize the safety and security of society.<\/p>\n
Head of the SIS Diaa Rashwan called on Egyptian officials and the Egyptian elite to boycott the BBC and refrain from conducting interviews with its correspondents and editors until it officially apologizes for the report.<\/p>\n
(Egypt Independent)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters scheduled April 10 as the date for the first hearing into a lawsuit urging the closure of Cairo\u2019s BBC office, and the revoking its licence to operate in Egypt, state-news Al-Ahram reported on Sunday. Lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem filed the lawsuit claiming that the BBC broadcasts false news with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":76889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[2683,25461,34564,33830],"class_list":["post-76888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-bbc","tag-diaa-rashwan","tag-mohamed-hamed-salem","tag-orla-guerin"],"yoast_head":"\n