The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate Council continues to meet permanently to follow up on the case of the “Mtsadeqsh” platform journalists who are imprisoned on the grounds of belonging to a banned group and spreading false news, demanding their release with any guarantee.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution in Egypt had ordered the detention of the six journalists, including a union journalist and five others whom the union described as trainees, for 15 days as a precautionary measure, after interrogating them for several days after their arrest in different governorates.
The prosecution said, in a press statement on Wednesday, that the defendants face charges of joining and financing a terrorist group, and spreading false news that would disturb public peace and security. She added that the defendants admitted to working on the “Don’t Believe” platform, which she described as affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood’s media committee, and that they held meetings via social media applications with a leader of the group who fled outside the country, and received monthly funding in foreign currencies via bank transfers.
The prosecution said that one of the defendants admitted to publishing content supportive of the group, while the rest of the defendants denied joining it, with the exception of an accused who said that he had previously joined it and then separated from it.
The prosecution added that the defendants were assigned, according to investigations, to spread what it described as rumors and false news about state institutions and officials, and that a technical examination of the accounts of some of them proved that they published content supportive of the group and called for the overthrow of the regime. On the other hand, the statement said that the prosecution did not observe any visible injuries on any of the defendants, and that three of them claimed that they had been subjected to the use of cruelty, so they were referred to forensic medicine, whose reports concluded that there were no injuries or signs indicating that they had been exposed to violence.
The Syndicate Council formed a permanent committee to follow up on the case and seek the assistance of all legal expertise to support the imprisoned journalists, amid a demand it issued for their release with “the Syndicate’s guarantee or any other guarantees that take into account the young ages of some of them and their lack of experience,” according to a Syndicate statement.
The union explained in its statement that it had submitted a report to the Public Prosecutor regarding what was raised about journalists being subjected to physical abuse during their period of detention, “forcing them to make statements or recordings that were not true, and proving the invalidity of any confessions taken under duress.”
The Public Prosecution and the Egyptian Ministry of Interior denied, in two separate statements, that the six journalists were subjected to torture or ill-treatment during their detention. The prosecution said that three of the defendants claimed that they had been subjected to the use of cruelty, so it referred them to the Forensic Medicine Authority, which concluded, according to its statement, that there were no injuries or signs indicating that they had been exposed to violence.
The Ministry of Interior said that these allegations come within the framework of the defendants’ attempt to evade the accusations against them, stressing that all measures taken against them were in accordance with the law.
The Ministry's denial came after the imprisoned journalists reported, during investigations initiated by the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which is responsible for investigating terrorism charges, that they had been subjected to torture and ill-treatment during the period that preceded their presentation to the investigation authorities.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which is responsible for defending journalists, said that the prosecution ordered that one of the journalists be brought before the Forensic Medicine Authority to examine whether there were injuries or traces consistent with the accounts of torture presented by the detainees.
Lawyer and human rights activist Lubna Darwish, director of advocacy at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which is responsible for defending journalists, told the BBC that the testimonies presented by journalists before the prosecution represent official reports that require independent investigation.
She added that "torture cases often occur inside security detention places, where it is difficult to have independent witnesses," which makes the role of the prosecution and forensic medicine essential in verifying the facts.
She added that the defense team will continue to follow the forensic investigations and procedures to ensure that all allegations raised are examined.
The Journalists Syndicate Council stressed its legal obligation to defend all six journalists in accordance with the Syndicate Law, which “obliges a journalist, before being registered in a union, to practice the profession of journalism as a prelude to applying for registration, which means that practicing the profession precedes registration.”
The union’s law does not allow journalists on websites to join its list of employees, but its current council stressed “the principle that the union has taken upon itself throughout its history as a basis for defending all actual practitioners of the profession, whether unionized or non-unionized.”
On the other hand, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior categorically rejected these allegations. Major General Amjad Shafi’i, former Assistant Minister of the Interior, said in an interview with BBC News Arabic that the accusations directed at the security services are “repeated allegations aimed at undermining confidence in official bodies.”
He said that the case is subject to the supervision of the Public Prosecution and that official places of detention are under its supervision, adding that only medical examinations and investigations will determine the veracity of the torture allegations.
According to lawyers who attended the investigation sessions, the journalists are facing charges of running a page on social media sites with the aim of “revolutionizing the Egyptian street and creating a revolutionary climate,” in addition to using technical means and attracting people to work within the platform’s activities, in addition to other charges related to publishing false news and joining a terrorist group.
Earlier, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights indicated that the defense team discovered during the investigation of a journalist that the prosecution had used the “custody” procedure against the accused stipulated in the Anti-Terrorism Law against him.
This text allows, in some exceptional circumstances related to terrorist crimes, to keep a person in detention for a period of up to 14 days before bringing him before a judicial authority.
Hossam Bahgat, Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, pointed out that “the use of this procedure against a journalist working in the field of verifying information raises questions about the nature of the case and the extent to which the legal justifications stipulated in the law apply to the facts under investigation.”
Bahjat considered that, according to him, the authorities did not enable the detainee to enjoy some of the guarantees stipulated in the same law, including communication with his family and the assistance of a lawyer during the period of detention.
Former Assistant Minister of the Interior Amjad Al-Shafi’i disagrees with him, saying that the measures taken against the journalists were in accordance with the law and with the permission of the Public Prosecution, and that the Journalists Syndicate was notified of the incident.
The case began with the security forces arresting six journalists representing the entire editorial team of the “Mtsadeqsh” platform, an Egyptian platform founded in 2018, specialized in verifying information and verifying news circulating in the media and social media sites.
According to lawyers and human rights organizations, journalists were arrested from their homes and various places in Cairo and other governorates, and their phones and computers were seized.
After days of ambiguity regarding their whereabouts, the journalists appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which decided to detain them for 15 days pending ongoing investigations.
The Ministry of Interior had said in a statement issued about two days after the arrest of the six journalists that the platform was “unlicensed and managed from abroad,” and that it belonged, according to Egyptian Interior Ministry investigations, to the media committees affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is classified as a terrorist group.
