Human Rights Report on Legal Pursuits of Journalists

Dialogue Forum for Development and Human Rights released an evaluative report on the freedom of expression in Egypt during the last year. According to the report, 25 verdicts have been made against journalists on opinion-related cases. In addition, 60 journalists have appeared before prosecutors for investigations and 10 have been subject to attacks because of their duty.  
 
The report detected the growing scope of severe criticism among journalists on newspapers. The report considered this phenomenon an additional restriction posed by journalists themselves on the freedom of expression. According to a relevant survey on the content of articles of Egyptian newspapers, 505 reports have been composed in this respect. Al-Dostor daily comes on the top with 180 articles followed by el-Araby weekly with 107. 
 
Moreover, the forum recommended the activation of Press Honor Charter to be the regulating frame that prevents irregularities of publication. It called on enacting unified legislation for Egyptian press that specifies rights and obligations of journalists and yields journalist-institution relation to Press Law instead of Work Law to decrease the rate of coercive dismissal of journalists.