Most readers have probably heard by now about how Egypt
sentenced three Al Jazeera reporters to jail:
Three Al Jazeera journalists who have been held in Egypt since December have been sentenced to seven years in jail, according to Ahram Online's reporter at the courthouse.
The three defendants are Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed. They have been on trial along with 17 others on charges of "spreading false news," falsely portraying Egypt as being in a state of "civil war," as well as aiding or joining the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
But there is
another story in Egypt about freedom of the press that is perhaps more chilling.
A court in Upper Egypt has sentenced journalist Bishoy Armia to five years in prison and a fine of LE500 fine for inciting sectarian strife, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported on Monday.
Al-Ahram said the defendant – originally named Mohamed Hegazy El-Sayed – was also sentenced for "depicting Christians as suffering from sectarian oppression" and reporting the "misinformation" to a US-based television channel called The Road.
The 32-year-old journalist made headlines in 2008 when he lobbied to have his religion changed on his national identification card from Islam to Christianity, after converting and subsequently changing his name from Mohamed Hegazy to Bishoy Armia.
I have yet to see a majority-Muslim state using laws like this against Muslims who incite against other religions.
