The Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) challenged on Sunday the Administrative Court’s decision to allow independent “Dream” television channels to resume transmission, reported state-owned EGY News website.
Dream TV’s transmission from its studios in Dream land, a resort on the outskirts of Cairo, was cut off over a week ago, following a decision from the ERTU.
The Administrative Court ruled in its first session on Saturday, that Dream can temporarily resume transmitting from their studios in the resort, until the final verdict is out.
Dream resumed broadcasting on Saturday at 5pm.
“We thank the fair judiciary, which protects freedoms, for issuing this decision,” the Dream statement read on Saturday.
Dream filed a lawsuit against ERTU’s decision. ERTU had banned Dream’s transmission because they said it was prohibited to broadcast from anywhere other than the state-owned Media Production city. Following this, former Minister of Communication, Mamdouh Al-Beltagy, reportedly gave Dream permission to transmit from another location.
“The decision is not legal but political,” TV anchor Wael Al-Ibrashy said live on Dream TV before the transmission was cut-off, “the channel is being punished for a political stance.”
TV anchor on the Dream network, Gehan Mansour, was referred to a misdemeanor court for insulting leading Freedom and Justice Party figure Essam El-Erian.
El-Erian filed a complaint against Mansour, accusing her of insulting him by calling him a “fascist politician” during a phone call broadcast on her TV show.
Dream channels have been broadcasting live since 2001.
