Amnesty International Condemns Editor's Imprisonment

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian government to drop all charges against leading editor Ibrahim Eissa. The Al Dustour chief was given a six-month sentence on Wednesday over his newspaper having published articles last year about rumors President Hosni Mubarak was in poor health.

The outspoken editor had faced up to three years in prison for "spreading false information and damaging the public interest and national stability." He can appeal the sentence.

"This prosecution forms part of a wider pattern of the Egyptian authorities using criminal defamation and other charges to chill media expression and reporting on issues considered by the authorities as red lines, but which are, in reality, issues of clear public interest," said Amnesty International. "It underlines the need for the government to amend the controversial press law and all other provisions in the Penal Code that criminalize legitimate reporting.

Al Dustour was not the first newspaper in Egypt to publish rumors that were circulating about the president's health.

Last October, 23 independent newspapers withheld publication in protest against the Egyptian government's crackdown on journalists.