By Mohammad Baali
Albawaba.com - Cairo
Members of the Egyptian Press Association are gearing up for a campaign aimed at the release of a colleague who has been convicted of libel.
Opposition journalist Mohammad Abu Liwaya was found guilty early last week of attacking the head of the Egyptian Press Association, Ibrahim Nafe', and the secretary general of the syndicate, Yehya Qalash, in a series of statements he circulated accusing the two of failing to support him when he was fired by his paper, Al Sha'ab.
The association's top officials appealed on May 4 to the Prosecutor General to suspend the sentence against Abu Liwaya, who was given a month in jail and a fine.
Nafe' said the conviction is in itself enough and that he didn’t want the man to remain in prison.
It was the first time ever that a head of the press union had sent a colleague to prison.
However, the appeal was turned down and the convict was sent to the notorious Abu Za’abal prison.
Nafe's appeal did not save him from severe criticism on the part of the Freedoms Committee at his association, at an urgent meeting they held the moment the news reached them.
They said that their campaign will start with issuing statements but did not rule out the possibility of staging a strike and a sit in in solidarity with their colleague.
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