The third of May was chosen to be the World Press Freedom Day to commemorate the adoption of the historic Windhoek Declaration at a meeting of African journalists organized by UNESCO and held in Namibia on 3rd May 1991.The Declaration states that press freedom can only be achieved by ensuring a free, independent and pluralistic media environment.This is a precondition for ensuring the security of journalists while performing their duties and to ensure that crimes against press freedom are investigated promptly and accurately.
On the third day of May 2019، the world celebrates the World Press Freedom Day, while in Egypt, her Majesty, “the press and the Egyptian journalists” don’t enjoy the freedom and pluralism. The journalists in Egypt are either dead, injured, or prisoned.
Furthermore, there are more than 80 journalists detained in the Egyptian prisons – most notably:
-Journalist Magdi Hussein, editor of the Egyptian newspaper “Istiqlal”.
-Journalist Mohsen Radi, a former member of the Press Syndicate,
-Journalist Ibrahim Al-Darawi, a Palestinian researcher and director of the Center for Studies.
-Journalist Mahmoud Hussein – a journalist with Al-Jazeera Qatari channel.
-Journalist Ismail Iskandarani.
The World Press Freedom Day comes while Egypt has fallen globally in press freedom – as restrictions on the freedom of press are imposed, as well as increased repression through the imposition of the new press law. The law grants the Supreme Council of Media the right to publish, block, ban, and stop the license of media bodies, including personal accounts on the social networks with more than 5,000 followers, which are treated as websites. They control these personal accounts for loose considerations such as {breaching the public peace}.
Journalist is the conscience and heart of society, freedom of the press is a sign of the existence of democracy in any country, so:
Justice for Human Rights foundation- JHR calls on the Egyptian authorities to;
1- Immediately release all the detainees of journalists and people working in media.
2- Respect the freedom of the press and the journalists, and to abide by the constitution, law, and all the international conventions.
3- Review all legislation restricting the freedom of the press in violation of the Egyptian Constitution.