VZCZCXRO3128
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1231 1820756
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 010756Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3060
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001231 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/NESCA 
NSC FOR KUMAR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2029 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: COURT SENTENCES JOURNALIST TO PRISON TERM FOR 
DEFAMATION 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 284 B. CAIRO 180 C. CAIRO 70 D. 08 CAIRO 2152 E. 08 CAIRO 2122 Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor William R. Stewart for reason 1.4 (d).
1.(C) On June 24, Cairo Criminal Court sentenced independent newspaper editor Yasser Barakat to six months in prison and fined him LE 20,000 (3,500 USD) for allegedly defaming controversial MP Mustafa Bakry in a November 2007 article entitled, "Bakry, Sawiris and Syrian Intelligence." In addition to being an MP, Bakry is also editor-in-chief of the sensationalist weekly tabloid "Al-Osboa," and is widely rumored to work for State Security. Barakat, editor-in-chief of the virtually unknown paper "Al-Moagaz," and Bakry have been embroiled in a public feud since November 2007, using their newspapers to level accusations and insults against each other. In February 2009, Cairo Criminal Court fined Barakat LE 40,000 (7,000 USD) for publishing a series of articles criticizing Barakat's GOE connections and business dealings (ref A).

2.(C) Barakat's lawyer Gamal Eid told us the judge was "biased" and that his ruling was "unacceptable." Eid predicted this would be the first of additional prison sentences handed down against Barakat. Eid will appeal the decision, but he is not optimistic that the ruling will be overturned. Human rights lawyer Negad Al-Borai told us the case was tried under a seldom-used statute criminalizing character assassination, and noted that in the article Barakat called Bakry a "thief and a beggar," and disparaged his family. Al-Borai viewed the court's decision as intended to "frighten" journalists. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) issued a statement June 28 criticizing the decision as a "new relapse," and rejecting prison terms for journalists. EOHR Secretary-General Hafez Abu Seada told us privately he was "astonished" by the ruling.

3.(C) Comment: The court's ruling against Barakat breaks a 10-month pattern of courts fining journalists, but not handing down jail terms, following the September 2008 prison sentence against independent journalist Ibrahim Eissa, which President Mubarak commuted (refs B, C, D, E). During this period, judges consistently imposed fines, but not jail terms, in prominent press defamation cases. Barakat's prison sentence is a worrying development, but could be due to the political influence of MP Mustafa Bakry, as opposed to indicating a change from the pattern of fining journalists. SCOBEY