Egypt
Al Jazeera operations in Egypt shut downPosted Feb 2 2011
The Qatar-based pan-Arab news network was shut down on Sunday by Egypt’s information minister Anas el-Fekki. Al Jazeera has been broadcasting around-the-clock coverage of the protests that began on Jan. 25.
The network continues to broadcast Egyptian coverage around the world, but “transmissions originating from Egypt ceased within an hour of the announcement,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Fekki ordered the suspension of operations of Al Jazeera, canceled its licenses and withdrew accreditation from its staff members.
“By banning Al Jazeera, the government is trying to limit the circulation of TV footage of the six-day-old wave of protests,” according to Reporters Without Borders’ secretary-general Jean-François Julliard.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that six Al Jazeera reporters were briefly detained on Jan. 31. They were released, but their equipment and tapes were not returned.
“The Egyptian authorities are systematically blocking Al-Jazeera from gathering and broadcasting news. This is part of a wider and ultimately futile attempt to prevent Egyptians from witnessing the political history that is being made around them,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, on CPJ’s website.
The Internet remains inaccessible, and mobile phones are now partially restored after both were shut down around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 27, according to Reporters Without Borders. CPJ reported that there is a single Internet provider in operation, and while mobile phones have been restored, SMS messaging has not.
Gamal Fahmy, a member of the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate, said that “Egyptian Authorities moved to ‘a new chapter in their assault on the media’ in which massive pressure is being exerted on television stations such as Al-Jazeera, which have been reporting on mass protests,” according to CPJ.