The office of President Mohamed Morsy

The office of President Mohamed Morsy has filed two lawsuits against two state media outlets on charges of defaming the president and spreading false news, said presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali on Tuesday.

Ali did not reveal the names of the media outlets, reported state-run newspaper Al-Ahram.

"We embrace freedom of expression, but we have to be meticulous about the information we publish," Ali said, adding that President Morsy advocates for the freedom of the media. However, spreading news without evidence or facts causes a state of confusion in Egypt, he continued.

Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud recently filed a similar lawsuit with the public prosecutor on behalf of Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, claiming that state TV and the state-owned Rose al-Youssef newspaper had spread false news about the Brotherhood.

Named in the lawsuit were the information minister, the head of state radio and TV, the head of the news sector of the state TV, board chairman of Rose al-Youssef newspaper Mohamed Gamal Eddin, chief editor Ibrahim Khalil, and editor Ahmed Atta.

The report demanded that these individuals be brought before the criminal court for falsely publishing on 30 July that the Muslim Brotherhood had financed Hamas to buy and smuggle weapons from Egypt into Palestine, and that the Brotherhood was to blame for protests intended to shield the smuggling operations.

The lawsuit claimed that the accused parties have also committed many crimes punishable by the law, making this a case that goes beyond the question of freedom of expression.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

The office of President Mohamed Morsy issued a statement on Wednesday declaring that he would respect the Supreme Constitutional Court’s Tuesday ruling which effectively overturned his 10 July presidential decree to reinstate the People’s Assembly.

The statement stressed that Morsy’s decree was intended to reinstate the People’s Assembly so that it could continue to perform its duties until parliamentary elections were re-staged, which would theoretically happen 60 days after approval of the new constitution that is currently being written. His decision was not meant to disrespect the judiciary or the ruling of the SCC that had originally disbanded the People’s Assembly, the statement continued.

“The goal was to choose the right time to implement the verdict in the interests of the people and the country and to preserve the authority of the state, especially that of Parliament, which was elected to carry out certain duties, so there wouldn’t be a power vacuum in terms of legislation,” Morsy’s statement said.

“If the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling issued yesterday prevents Parliament from performing its tasks, we will respect that because we are a law-based state,” the statement added.

The presidency said that it would consult with different political entities, institutions and the Supreme Judicial Council on the best way to overcome this crisis until the new constitution is approved.

Sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Morsy met with legal experts on Tuesday following the SCC’s ruling that blocked the reinstatement of the People’s Assembly.

The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, said that during the meeting Morsy rejected a proposal to hold a referendum on the reinstatement of the People’s Assembly and the annulment of the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration that was issued by the military council late last month.

Edited translation from MENA

Tags: presidential decree, The office of President Mohamed Morsy, People’s Assembly, Supreme Constitutional Court

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