afp: Egypt charges editor for running photo of Sadat
Egyptian journalist Said Abdel Khaleq has been charged over the publication of a photograph of late president Anwar Sadat’s body. The AFP wire isn’t very clear, but says the charge is “profaning the memory of the late president”. Khaleq was fired on Monday over the front page photograph, taken after Sadat was assassinated in 1981.
Said Abdel Khaleq, who was managing editor of the paper until being fired the same day over the publication, was accused of violating a privacy law because the picture was a “profanation of the sacrosanct nature of the memory of the dead”, the source said.He was released after questioning by chief prosecutor Maher Abdel Wahed who then decided to pursue the case, the source said.
A member of the Egyptian journalists’ union, Hamdin Sabbahi, said he testified in court that publication of the photo did not constitute a violation of the law, “even if it hurt the feelings of certain Egyptian citizens”.