Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

<strong>Attacks</strong> on the Press in 2010country summariesSummaries in this chapter were researched and written by MohamedAbdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North Africa program coordinator;Rima Marrouch, CPJ’s Beirut-based research associate; Kamel EddineLabidi, CPJ Middle East representative; and freelance journalist MariwanHama-Saeed.EgyptBack in 2005, reporters exposed widespread ballot fraud and voter intimidationduring the country’s first multi-party presidential election.Determined to avoid a repeat of such coverage during the November parliamentaryelections, the government blocked satellite television, clampeddown on news dissemination techniques, and orchestrated the silencingof critical voices. The ruling National Democratic Party swept the votingamid widespread reports of fraud.In October, a month before parliamentary balloting, the governmentownedsatellite transmission company Nilesat abruptly stopped transmittingthe signals of 12 private satellite channels and issued warnings to 20others, according to news reports. Information Minister Anas el-FekkyTOP DEVELOPMEN TS» Government blocks satelliteTV, news texting ahead ofparliamentary vote.» Political maneuvering seen ascritical editor sacked, anotherjailed.KEY STATISTIC12Satellite televisionstations taken offthe air one monthbefore the election.labeled the stations “extremist,” but Nabil Abdel Fattah, assistant directorof the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies, toldReuters that the move was designed to silence channels that supportedMuslim Brotherhood candidates.The same month, the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authorityimposed new rules that effectively barred private production companiesfrom doing live broadcasts. Under the new rule, imposed just in time toblock live election coverage, production companies must obtain special232