[governance] Fwd: [E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera transmissions, orders bureaus shut

[Katitza Rodriguez]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera transmissions, orders bureaus 
shut
Date: 	Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:08:06 -0800
From: 	Katitza Rodriguez <katitza at eff.org>
Reply-To: 	katitza at eff.org
Organization: 	EFF
To: 	EFF International <eff-intl at eff.org>



https://cpj.org//2011/01/egypt-blocks-al-jazeera-transmissions-orders-burea.php

New York, January 30, 2011*--*Nilesat, the satellite transmission 
company owned by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union and other 
government agencies, has stopped transmitting the signal of Al-Jazeera's 
primary channel, the station and others reported today. The Committee to 
Protect Journalists condemns the actions of Egyptian authorities to 
disrupt media coverage by Al-Jazeera and calls on them to reverse the 
decision immediately.

Shortly before 11 a.m., Al-Jazeera announced on the air that Anas 
al-Fiqi, information minister in the cabinet that was dismissed on 
Friday, had ordered the offices of all Al-Jazeera bureaus in Egypt shut 
down and the accreditation of all network journalists revoked. The 
official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported that the order was to 
take effect on Sunday, and transmissions originating from Egypt ceased 
within an hour of the announcement. The discharged information minister 
ordered "the relevant government agencies to take the immediate legal 
measures necessary to revoke the licenses for live satellite 
transmission equipment (S.N.G.) and fiber optic cables or any other 
means of communication provided to Al-Jazeera," MENA reported.

"The shutting down of Al-Jazeera is a brazen violation of the 
fundamental right of Egyptians to receive information as their country 
is in turmoil," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North 
Africa program coordinator. "The international community should prevail 
upon President Mubarak to lift this censorship immediately."

Today is the sixth day of massive street demonstrations in which 
citizens had been demanding political, social, and economic reforms, 
though demonstrators are now calling for the complete removal of 
Mubarak's three-decade-long regime. On Thursday, authorities suspended 
Internet and mobile phone service, according to news reports and mobile 
operators, in an effort to disrupt communications between protesters as 
well as transmission of news. On Saturday, mobile phone services were 
restored to a large degree, according to local journalists and press 
freedom advocates who spoke to CPJ.

Internet connectivity, a vital resource for local journalists and those 
reporting from Egypt to the rest of the world, continues to be almost 
non-existent in Egypt, with more than 90 percent of connections to the 
wider Internet shut down. CPJ research indicates that this is a 
deliberate, coordinated result of Egyptian government orders to local 
Internet service providers. CPJ urges the government to rescind any such 
directives and order the restoration of Egypt's connections with the 
outside world.

Both Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera English continued to report today on 
Egypt from other locations. CPJ research shows that viewers outside 
Egypt can now view the network's Arabic channel only on the Hotbird 
satellite or other satellites not controlled by Egyptian authorities. 
But at least two individuals in Egypt who spoke to the channel's anchor 
on air reported that they could not view the channel even on non-state 
satellites, an indication that authorities may be jamming those 
transmissions. As of 1 p.m. local time, Al-Jazeera English's broadcast 
remained on Nilesat. Al-Jazeera Mubasher, the network's live news 
channel, which had been transmitting live footage from Egypt's streets 
was taken off Nilesat on Thursday.

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