sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
This is important. Al-Wafd was a opposition newspaper during the Mubarak years. In the past, reporters and editors from this newspaper were persecuted by the former regime.
One high profile case against this newspaper was the case brought in 2007 against the former editor Anwar Al Hawwari and reporter Amr Mahmoud Othman. They reported about Mamdouh Marei, the Minister of Justice at that time. Hawwari and Othman each received a 2 year sentence for publishing "false" information that "harmed his reputation".
Former Minister of Justice Marei is now under investigation for graft. Mohamed al-Guindi is the current Minister of Justice.
Al-Wafd is a newspaper that we have considered reliable for disease information in the past. Hopefully the new information minister will encourage open reporting about disease status in Egypt - especially since there have been 31 recorded cases and 13 deaths from H5N1 in Egypt this year.
One high profile case against this newspaper was the case brought in 2007 against the former editor Anwar Al Hawwari and reporter Amr Mahmoud Othman. They reported about Mamdouh Marei, the Minister of Justice at that time. Hawwari and Othman each received a 2 year sentence for publishing "false" information that "harmed his reputation".
Former Minister of Justice Marei is now under investigation for graft. Mohamed al-Guindi is the current Minister of Justice.
Al-Wafd is a newspaper that we have considered reliable for disease information in the past. Hopefully the new information minister will encourage open reporting about disease status in Egypt - especially since there have been 31 recorded cases and 13 deaths from H5N1 in Egypt this year.