Journalists allowed to attend Tamim trial

Cairo: A criminal court, trying an Egyptian business tycoon charged with ordering the slaying of a Lebanese singer in Dubai on Monday allowed media to attend the hearing, but kept in place a ban on reporting about the high-profile case.

Chief Judge of the court Mohamdi Qensowa Sunday ordered a news blackout on publishing about the trial of Hesham Talaat Mustafa charged with ordering the killing of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai on July 28.

Qensowa said that the media is allowed only to carry decisions declared by the court, including the final verdict.

Security guards on Monday allowed reporters inside the courtroom in southern Cairo without TV cameras, tape recorders and mobile phones, said legal sources.

The gag order drew criticism from journalists, whose syndicate urged the court to reverse the ban.

"The board of the Press Syndicate feels very sorry for this decision as it bars journalists from doing their job and reporting about the case to the public," the independent syndicate said in a statement on Monday.

It, however, urged the media to "stop prejudging the case and the defendants".

The publication ban has surprised Egyptian reporters, who are used to having cameras and recorders allowed to roll freely in criminal court cases.

It came shortly after a lawyer, who was inside the courtroom Sunday but not involved in the case, rose and complained to the judge that the hearings were used to distribute a book on Mustafa's alleged innocence.

The complaining lawyer, Ra'fat Aziz, said the author of the book, Sameer Al Sheshtawy, was influencing public opinion by handing out copies of the book at the trial.

Meanwhile, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information in a statement yesterday condemned the ban as "political" and said it violated press freedoms.

"The news blackout imposed in this case is purely for political and personal reasons," said the group's attorney, Radwa Ahmad. She indicated the trial has turned political instead of a criminal case because of Mustafa's ties to the presidential family.

Angry reporters late Sunday staged a protest in central Cairo and said they would stop reporting about the cases to be heard by judge Qensowa in the future.

The group demanded the Egyptian government respect freedom of the press and lift the ban immediately.