Tag: censorship

From AFP:

An Egyptian television agency boss was charged in court on Monday after he helped broadcast images of protesters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak during deadly food riots in early April.
Nader Gohar, who owns the Cairo News Company, was charged following a complaint by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union that he did not have a license to provide satellite feed facilities to foreign channels, a judicial official told AFP.
At least three civilians were killed by police during two days of rioting in the Nile Delta industrial city of Mahalla on April 6-7.
Demonstrations called to protest rising food prices turned violent when police used rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas on protesters who tore down billboard images of Mubarak.
Footage of the posters being torn down — a crime against the president for Egyptian authorities — and the subsequent violence could be seen on many television stations and on the internet.
The court, which ordered Gohar’s arrest ahead of the next hearing on May 17, has already ordered the agency’s offices searched and impounded five satellite dishes used for broadcasting, and a vehicle.
Gohar admitted that his license had expired and said his request to the judge that he be given a few days grace to sort out the paperwork had been rejected.
“I think I’m being prosecuted most of all for having cooperated with Qatari satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera,” Gohar told Egyptian independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.