Egypt court rules to reinstate sacked newspaper editor-in-chief

Ahram Online, Tuesday 6 Nov 2012

Adminstrative court rules to reinstate Gamal Abdel-Rehim, the sacked editor-in-chief of flagship state daily Al-Gomhouriya

An Egyptian administrative court on Tuesday ruled in favour of Gamal Abdel-Rehim, the sacked editor-in-chief of state-owned daily Al-Gomhouriya, ordering that the latter be reinstated as head of the newspaper.

Abdel-Rehim was dismissed on 17 October by Ahmed Fahmy, head of the Shura Council (the upper, consultative house of Egypt's parliament) after publishing an inaccurate report stating that Egypt's former ruling generals – Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and former chief-of-staff Sami Anan – had been barred from leaving the country.

The report was quickly denied at the time by government officials.

Tuesday's court ruling, to be implemented immediately, overturned the Shura Council decision.

At a court hearing, Abdel-Rehim had argued that the decision to sack him had been due to his longstanding "fight against corruption."

Tuesday's court session was packed with journalists who attended to express solidarity with Abdel-Rehim.

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