Al-Dustour (Egypt)

File:Al-Dostour Newspaper Logo.png

Al-Dostour Logo الأمة مصدر السلطات written in Arabic meaning "The Nation is the Source of Authority"

Al-Dustour (also Al-Dostour and Al-Dostor) (Template:Lang-ar, meaning "The Constitution"), founded in December, 1995, is an Egyptian independent opposition newspaper published in Arabic. Its editor in chief is Ibrahim Eissa. Started as a weekly newspaper, every Wednesday, and later issued both daily and weekly.

Al-Dostour and The Egyptian Government

Al Dostour was published with a permission from Cyprus, as to get around the restricting newspaper publication laws in Egypt.

After publishing a statement attributed to Islamic groups in 1998, the Egyptian Ministry of Information ceased the Dostour publication. The published statement was considered, by the Egyptian Ministry of Information, as unacceptable and a potential cause of sectarian strife.

On March 23, 2005 it was back in issuance as a weekly, every Wednesday, newspaper. And since March 31, 2007 it's been being issued as both daily and weekly newspaper.

Since the day of its first issue, Al-Dostour has been facing the government with harsh criticism that included lately the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, his family, and the ruling party (The National Democratic Party NDP), as it's one of Egypt’s top critics of President Hosni Mubarak’s 27-year rule and showing sharp opposition to Gamal Mubarak's inheritance of power.

Al-Dostour editor in chief, Ibrahim Eissa, is free on bail pending the appellate court decision in a sentence of a yearlong prison and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian Pound (≈ 3800 USD) on September 13, 2007, and other 3 independent editors; Wael al-Abrashy of Sawt Al-Umma, Al-Fajr's Adel Hammouda, and Al-Karama's former editor Abdel Halim Kandil, in charge of "(insulting) the Egyptian president and publishing (false) information likely to (disturb) public order".

On the other hand in a separate case, Eissa has been sentenced to six months in prison on March 26, 2008, Boulak Abo Al Ela Court of Misdemeanor, for publishing "false information concerning Mubarak's health harming public security and the country's economy" in relation to articles and headlines speculating the health of 80 year-old president Hosni Mubarak. Governmental authorities allege that Eissa's articles caused foreign investment withdrawal that's equal to 350 million USD. Eissa is free, for a second time, on bail of 200 EP (≈ 37 USD) to halt implementation of the verdict until another appeal.

In October 2008, the Egyptian president [[Hosni Mubarak] announced that he would pardon Eissa. It was the first time in Egypt that such a pardon has been issued in the history of the press. Al-Dustour praised the pardon and asked the president to honor his promise to cancel custodial sentences in cases of publication. <ref name = pardon> {{cite news url = http://www.arabwestreport.info/awr/article_details.php?article_id=20597&ayear=2008&aweek=&article_title=Mub%C3%84%C2%81rak%20pardons%20Ibr%C3%84%C2%81h%C3%84%C2%ABm%20%3CSUP%3Ec%3C/SUP%3E%C3%84%C2%AAs%C3%83%C2%A1&article_t_date=07-10-2008&article_p_date=2008-10-06&article_p_week=2008-10-12&t=f&char= | title = Mubarak pardons Ibrahim Eissa | publisher = Arab West Report |date= 2008-10-07

External links

• Official Al Dostor Web Page (Arabic)
• Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemning Eissa's jail sentence
• Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemning the four editors jail sentence
• Amnesty International calling the Egyptian authorities to drop the charges against Eissa
• International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) Forty members and partners of IFEX urge authorities to overturn four editors' jail sentences during appeal hearing on World Press Freedom Day