Newspaper editor Ibrahim Eissa was sentenced by an Egyptian court to six months hard labor in jail for publishing an article last year about health problems facing Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.

He was found guilty of damaging the national economy, although bankers have said it was difficult to link the drop in foreign investment at the time to the articles that were published.

Central Bank officials testified in court that investments of up to $350 million left the country on the days that Al-Dustour published the reports on the president's health.

Last year, Eissa was sentenced along with three other newspaper editors to a year in prison in a separate case for defaming Mubarak and his ruling National Democratic party. That trial also concerned newspaper articles about the president's health.

Eissa is one of the president's most outspoken critics. He has had run-ins with Egyptian authorities in the past. The paper was shut down for nearly seven years at one point.

The editor says the latest sentence sheds light on the limits to press freedom in Egypt. He says the verdict proves that Mubarak's government crushes the international right to freedom of expression.

Update: Appeal Result

3rd October 2008

The Boulak Abul Ela Appeal Court on the outskirts of Cairo reduced the six-month jail term given in March to Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dustour, to two months in prison for “publishing false information and rumors” about President Hosni Mubarak’s health. The court said Eissa’s August 2007 articles were likely to disturb public security and harm the country’s economy.

The verdict, which was issued amid tight security measures and heavy police presence both inside and outside the courtroom, took lawyers by surprise and prompted protests among journalists and human rights activists, who chanted anti-Mubarak slogans inside the courthouse.

Update: Pardoned

8th October 2008. Based on article from cpj.org

The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the presidential pardon today of a two-month jail sentence against Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dustour.

On September 28, a Court of appeal in Cairo reduced a six-month jail term given in March to Eissa to two months in prison for publishing false information and rumors about President Hosni Mubarak’s health. The court said Eissa’s August 2007 articles were likely to disturb public security and harm the country’s economy.

The presidential pardon coincide with Egypt celebrates the anniversary of a 1973 war against the state of Israel.

We are relieved that Ibrahim Eissa will not serve time in jail, said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. His sentence was nothing more than retaliation for reporting the government did not like.

The readers of Al Badeel newspaper were shocked by its absence in markets.

The Network was informed that Al Ahram printers had refused to complete printing the first edition that came out in evening, they also refused to print the second edition entirely.

The highlights of the censored Al Badeel on 19th of August, included:

• Joyfulness in Pakistan following the President Resignation… Egyptian Politicians: Wishing the same for us.
• Big Fire in al Shoura Council Building, reached the People’s Council”. This is what seems to have annoyed the security apparatus, particularly the suggestion of arson.
• Report on the “Death Ferry” and Cancerous Pesticides.

The rejection to print Al Badeel also exposed the dishonesty of the government's denial of press censorship. The rejection of printing or delaying some of the publication has somehow become a common occurrence, particularly for government-criticizing newspapers – such as Addustour and Al Badeel

An Egyptian editor was sentenced to one-year in prison as the Egyptian government continued its efforts to censor media in the country.

Press freedom groups have condemned the ruling, saying Cairo is doing little to ensure freedom of the press.

Ahmed Baker Seleem, editor of the Cairo Today newspaper, was handed a one-year jail term for publishing a newspaper without a license, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. Seleem, who was also fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds (US$1,845), is currently free on bail while he awaits appeal.

The case was brought to court after a rival newspaper accused Seleem of defamation. It was later discovered that Cairo Today had been publishing without a license.

Modern Egypt has been compared to a surrealist painting: difficult to decipher and comprehend, dominated by dark, abrasive lines at the centre yet giving way to softer, more hopeful brush strokes at the periphery.

The big news has been the presidential pardon of the controversial editor and outspoken regime critic Ibrahim Eissa, who sits at the helm of al-Dostour newspaper. This phenomenally popular daily has been a constant thorn in the government's side since it reopened in 2005 – seven years after being shut down for publishing an Islamist statement. In August last year, as whispers regarding Hosni Mubarak's health swirled through the streets, Eissa had the mendacity to write:

The president in Egypt is a god and gods don't get sick. Thus, President Mubarak, those surrounding him, and the hypocrites hide his illness and leave the country prey to rumours. It is not a serious illness. It's just old age. But the Egyptian people are entitled to know if the president is down with something as minor as the flu.

In an Orwellian doublespeak world where the president declares his belief in press freedom to be "unshakeable" and promises that no journalist will go to jail for doing their job, that paragraph was enough to land Eissa in court, where he was accused of single-handedly undermining international confidence in Egypt's stability and wiping $350m off the stock market.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned an Egyption court's recent decision to fine Nader Gohar, the head of the Cairo News Company (CNC), LE 150,000 after his company broadcast images of rioters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak in April.

The court's decision is a death warrant to CNC, RSF said in a press statement. The Egyptian authorities are not even trying to hide their desire to censor independent media and control the news.

The Egyptian Television and Radio union (ERTU) had filed a complaint against Gohar for airing footage of riots in the Delta region showing citizens protesting high prices and attacking President Mubarak's pictures. The footage dates back to April 6.

Following the complaint, the Egyptian police forces raided CNC's office confiscating several pieces of equipment, accusing him of working without required licenses and permits.

The video recording was later aired by channels such as Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and France 2.

The case is not legitimate as the sole reason behind it is the footage that shows the citizens stepping on President Mubarak's picture, Gamal Eid, head of the Arabic network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) who is also part of Gohar's defense team told Daily News Egypt: Security forces wanted a scapegoat to show the president that they got who's responsible.

According to Eid, ANHRI will appeal the case soon.