Court set to hear appeal in case in against Cairo News Company

Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the outcome of an appeal in the case of the Cairo News Company (CNC), which was prosecuted for broadcasting film of demonstrations on 6 April 2008. A court is due to begin hearing the appeal on 19 April. The press freedom organisation urges the government to use its influence to have the case against the CNC withdrawn. “A year has gone by and the authorities should defuse the situation,” Reporters Without Borders said. The CNC is a leading provider of broadcast equipment and services to foreign news media based in Egypt. Equipment was seized from the company a year ago after Al Jazeera broadcast footage of demonstrators tearing up posters of President Hosni Mubarak during protests and rioting in Mahalla on 6 April 2008 that left three dead and dozens wounded. As a result of a complaint brought by the state-run Egyptian Radio and Television Union accusing the CNC of operating an unlicensed broadcast network and broadcasting without a permit, a lower court sentenced the CNC to a fine of 150,000 Egyptian pounds (20,000 euros). The conviction and the seizure of the CNC's equipment were a significant setback for media freedom in Egypt. Nader Gohar, the head of the CNC, still faces a possible five-year prison sentence. Reporters Without Borders wrote to Ahmed Anis, the head of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, on 7 April asking him to withdraw the complaint against the CNC.