The Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) and Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC) show their extreme concern over the decision of the Head of the Criminal Court of Southern Cairo about the prohibition of publication in
the murder case of the singer Suzan Tamim in which businessman, Hisahm Talaat Mustafa, and the ex State Security officer, Mohammed El Sukary, are accused.
In a sudden development during the third trial session yesterday, the Consultant issued a decision to ban the publication of the case in all media, visual, audible and print, and limited the publication to the court’s decisions only and the rulings it issues they were whether they were preparatory or preliminary in addition to its final sentence in the case. The decision ignored mentioning the reasons behind the decision, raising many questions for the public that was prevented its right to know without giving any reasons.
The two organizations assert that trials are originally supposed to be public and prohibition is the exception, especially that the trial started showing do*****ents indicating the involvement of the government in suspicion of corruption in selling lands owned by the state to the accused businessman, Hisham Talaat Mustafa.
The two organizations also indicate that the decision of prohibition of publication did not consider the primacy of public interest and the citizens’ right to know, even if the purpose of banning publication is not to negatively affect conducting court procedures and their legal purpose, except that the decision issuer should consider whether the public interest requires publication of the information especially if the information involves uncovering the highest levels of government corruption.
