CAIRO: Press Syndicate Chairman Galal Aref suffered a heart attack Wednesday, thus postponing the syndicate’s crisis management meeting to Saturday.
Aref was quickly moved to the intensive care unit of Kasr Al Aini hospital, but his office manager told Daily News Egypt that his condition is improving and that he can now speak on the phone.
There was confusion over whether a scheduled protest in solidarity with four editors who were recently given jail terms was going to be postponed because of Aref’s sudden collapse.
But Yehia El Alash, secretary general of the press syndicate, told Daily News Egypt that the Kefaya Movement for Change was planning to hold a demonstration on Thursday Sept. 27 at 9 pm.
Aref was supposed to attend the Press Syndicate’s crisis management meeting that was to be held last Wednesday to discuss the latest developments of seven journalists from different independent and party newspapers who were handed jail sentences over articles they published.
But Egyptian independent and opposition newspapers held their own meeting Wednesday night in which they decided not to publish on Oct. 7 in a protest over the government clampdown on journalists in the past few weeks.
Editors from 15 newspapers agreed to the protest “against the fierce campaign against the free press in Egypt, according to a statement received by AFP on Thursday.
Ibrahim Eissa, chief editor of Al-Dostour daily newspaper, is facing two charges, one trial of which is set to take place on Oct. 1 for generating public panic and causing the country substantial losses in foreign investment by spreading rumors about President Hosni Mubarak’s health.
Eissa was also convicted along with Adel Hammouda, editor of Al-Fajr weekly, Wael Al-Abrashy, editor of Sout Al-Omah weekly, and Abd Al-Halim Kandil, former editor of Al-Karama newspaper, to a year in prison and a LE 20,000 fine for intentionally insulting President Mubarak, his son and prominent members of the ruling party.
On Monday, the chief editor of Al-Wafd newspaper, Anwar Al-Hawari, along with Mahmoud Galeb, and Amir Salem – two journalists at the same newspaper – received a two-year jail sentence for misquoting the Minister of Justice.
Al-Badil editor Mohammed Sayyed Said is also facing prosecution for writing about President Hosni Mubarak’s health.
