Egypt's prosecutor general Hisham Barakat ordered the release of editor-in-chief of private newspaper Youm7, Khaled Salah, and editor of the same paper El-Sayed Falah on EGP 10,000 bail each, hours after they were charged with publishing false news, inciting fear and threatening public security.
The interior ministry filed a complaint against both men, accusing them of publishing false news on 11 June about alleged terrorists who attacked cars affiliated with the Egyptian presidency. According to the report, the vehicles were attacked after leaving the coastal resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, where Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi attended the African economic summit.
Youm7 expressed astonishment at the ministry's complaint, which it considered to be "excessive" against journalists.
The interior ministry has filed a number of complaints against journalists and newspapers during recent months.
Last Wednesday, around 300 journalists staged a protest at the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo against the imprisonment of their colleagues, criticising what they described as the stifling of press freedoms in Egypt.
Short link: