CAIRO: Text messages by an unknown perpetrator were received by residents of Al Usayrat City in Suhag, slandering a daily opposition newspaper’s reporter and his family.
The issue began two years ago when the Al Usyarat-based reporter himself received a text message from an unknown number insulting some of his closest family members, who also received several messages. He tried calling the number but received no answer, and the messages continued to flood his phone.
Although the messages had been reported to the Al Usayrat prosecution, the telecommunication company to which the cell phone number belongs refuses to reveal the culprit’s details, under the pretext that no official letter by the prosecution has been issued to allow it.
The reporter’s family is demanding the help of the public prosecutor and the interior minister in order to put a stop to the problem. Al-Masri Al-Youm newspaper, which reported the incident, implied that the issue could be politically-related, given the correspondent’s political stance. The nature of the text messages could likely instigate crimes seeing as they defame the reputation and honor of the reporter’s family members in Suhag, a city where honor crimes are prevalent.
