CAIRO: The trial of Nader Gohar, owner of a private broadcasting company that was raided in April, was adjourned to June 30 upon the request of Gohar’s attorney.
Lawyer Ahmed Ghazy asked for more time to notify the head of Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) and the head of the National Council for Communications of the civil action Gohar has raised against them.
Gohar, who owns Cairo News Company (CNC) which provides equipment, production and satellite transmission services to channels, including Al Jazeera and the BBC.is demanding LE 10,001 in compensation.
On April 17, 2008, 35 plainclothes police officers raided CNC’s Cairo office and confiscated equipment which – as it was pointed out in a statement issued by Human Rights Watch – effectively prevents it from operating.
Gohar was then charged with importing and owning television equipment and transmitting television broadcasts without permission.
This is the second hearing in the case after the trial was adjourned to June 16 in order to correct inaccuracies in a power of attorney.
The Boulaq Misdemeanors Court requested that the powers of attorney be written in Gohar’s own name rather than in his capacity as the owner of the Cairo News Company (CNC).
The case against Gohar was brought by the state-owned ERTU.
Ghazy told Daily News Egypt that no one from ERTU or the National Council for Communications showed up in court.
Commenting on the case, he said “it is the first case of its kind and it will open the door for other similar cases.
While CNC’s license expired in 2007, Gohar says that when he tried to renew the license he was told by the Ministry of Information officials that he would have to wait until new regulations were issued, but that he could continue operating in the meantime, said the statement.
Gohar told Human Rights Watch that he thinks CNC was targeted because of its previous collaboration with Al Jazeera.
He thinks that the authorities may believe that CNC provided Al Jazeera with the equipment they used to film in Mahalla during the April 6 and 7 clashes; something which Gohar denies.
Closure of CNC is linked to the recent issuance of a new broadcasting charter by Arab ministers of information during a meeting of the Arab League.
The non-binding document of Feb. 12 titled “Principles for Organizing Satellite Broadcast and Television Transmission and Reception in the Arab Region, recommends that broadcasters “protect the supreme interests of Arab states and “respect the principle of national sovereignty.
But Ghazy argues that “the document issued by the Arab ministers of information acts like a repression tool on the freedom of channels that works in the field of satellite broadcasting.
“Regulations like these are common around the world, but they should organize not constrain the work of TV channels, he added.
According to a Human Rights Watch statement, three satellite channels have been dropped by Egypt’s state-controlled satellite Nilesat since the adoption by the Arab League of these recommendations.
