Egypt
Critics blast amendments to Journalists Syndicate law drafted behind closed doors | MadaMasr
▻https://madamasr.com/en/2018/11/01/feature/politics/critics-blast-draft-amendments-to-journalists-syndicate-law
Proposed amendments to the law governing Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate have come under fire for bypassing normal procedural channels and being rushed through without input from syndicate members. Critics claim the amendments are being imposed by state authorities in an effort to control the drafting process and weaken the syndicate.
The drafts — the contents or details of which have yet to be published — come in the wake of Parliament’s approval of three controversial press regulatory laws over the summer that grant government authorities far-reaching powers to further clamp down on the media and restrict press freedoms.
Currently, two separate draft amendments to the Journalists Syndicate law (Law 76/1970) are being prepared and both are reportedly close to being finalized, but neither one has included the involvement of the syndicate’s rank and file in the drafting process.