Journalists face probe for violating gag order

Cairo: A local court on Thursday ordered two journalists to be questioned over violating a ban on reporting about murder trial hearings involving a business tycoon.

The Criminal Court in southern Cairo said the two reporters, working for the influential independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm had violated a media ban imposed earlier in the week on carrying details about the trial involving Hesham Tala'at Moustafa, one of Egypt's top real estate developers, charged with ordering the killing of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai last July.

On November 16, the presiding judge of the court Mohammdi Qensowa ordered the gag, citing "a bid to influence public opinion". He permitted the media to carry only the decisions announced by the court, including the final verdict.

Summons

Egypt's Chief Prosecutor Abdul Mejuid Mahmoud on Thursday ordered prosecutors to summon the two journalists for interrogation. Al Masry Al Youm on Thursday carried what the court said was the full testimony made by a witness in violation of the ban.

The prime defendant in the high-profile case Mohssen Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, has said that Moustafa, an ex-MP and a senior politician in President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, ordered him to kill Suzan for $2 million (Dh7.35 million). Moustafa, 49, has flatly denied the accusation.