Only 48 hours after the trial of Bassam Yousseff, the host of ‘El Bernameg’ (The Program), on charges of insulting President Morsi, Al Jazeera Live announced a complaint filed against media man Gaber El-Armouty and his ON TV show, ‘Manchette.’ El-Armouty was charged with “disturbing public peace” and “insulting the judiciary.”  Here El-Armouty gives his take on the controversy:

Mr. El-Armouty, what is the procedural situation of the complaint?

Only 48 hours after the trial of Bassam Yousseff, the host of ‘El Bernameg’ (The Program), on charges of insulting President Morsi, Al Jazeera Live announced a complaint filed against media man Gaber El-Armouty and his ON TV show, ‘Manchette.’ El-Armouty was charged with “disturbing public peace” and “insulting the judiciary.”  Here El-Armouty gives his take on the controversy:

Mr. El-Armouty, what is the procedural situation of the complaint?

I have not been summoned for an interrogation yet. The news reported that a group of lawyers filed a complaint with these accusations. Surprisingly, Al Jazeera Channel broadcast this news despite legal obligations that withhold revealing filed complaints before the Attorney General decides whether or not the accusations are well-founded and then summons both the complaints’ presenters and the defendants. And broadcasting such news is only intended to affect journalists’ morals.

Is this the first complaint filed against you? Who filed it and what are the accusations?

This is the third one, but the most publicized and detailed one. There are three ambiguous charges: disturbing public peace, publishing false news and insulting the judiciary. Strangely enough, the Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Egyptian Lawyers Union filed a complaint on April 2 against an episode broadcasted the day before, and on April 3, the Attorney General referred it to the State Security Prosecution. The complaint is currently frozen and will be opened any time or upon political imperative only determined by, of course, the Brotherhood.

To what extent was your performance on-screen affected following the complaint?

The danger surrounding Egypt requires learning from previous lessons. Before the revolution, we used to criticize everyone except Mubarak’s family. Today, there are no red lines. Since its launch in 2009, the program has been basically criticizing and commenting on newspaper articles. We do not make news; we only elaborate on news and draw comparisons among articles addressing the same subject.

Some draw a link between the complaint and the escalating measures against Naguib Sawiris, the owner of the channel, who is currently being accused of tax evasion.

This is true to a large extent. Maybe if the program was broadcasted on another channel, we would not have faced such charges. Since the revolution, Egyptians now want to tailor their own anchor. Each individual wants to personally like their anchor. Some people get offended by the way I present without commenting on the subject matter, like the fruitful campaigns the program has launched to protect the Nile from waste and ban the import of carcinogenic or contaminated meat. But, the offended always focus on the news they do not like politically. They say we report fabricated news about the regime in opposing newspapers, despite the fact that we comment daily on headlines of supportive newspapers too. As for ON TV, I will continue working there as long as I enjoy this great freedom unavailable at other channels.

Does working for Ahram Arabi magazine not interfere with hosting Manchette?

I work as a journalist to stay close to the street. My daily reference before going into the studio is the magazine’s canteen worker. This is the audience I target. I try to objectively handle journalist issues of the magazine.

How do you perceive the future of the attack on the media?

This attack will continue as long as the regime tries to cover up its flaws. However, I fear that people would be increasingly divided in a way similar to that of Lebanon during its civil war or to that of Iraq. Personally, I am trying to resist this scenario through this opportunity available to me. Any true analyst of the media message in the private media would realize that the purpose is not to topple the regime but rather reform its performance.

As a journalist close to businessman Naguib Sawiris, do you think he has lost by entering this field?

On the contrary, Sawiris masters the language of the media to a large extent. I first had contact with him when he was the first Egyptian businessman to invest abroad. At the time, I was corresponding with Alhayat International newspaper and he was the only one willing to provide me with news at any time. He is aware how economic media attends to important issues. It is enough for him that he has established a channel that has become influential, even though it does not broadcast drama, movies or cooking shows.

You are accused, however, of cooperating with Sawiris to convey certain messages.

The whole channel is accused of that, as if other channels did not have an editorial policy. Only workers of ON TV know that the rate of guidance – not intervention – does not exceed 5%. Besides, If Karmoty has accepted to intervene in their opinion, why would other journalists do that? Is it for money? Some channels pay higher salaries, but I and others will continue to work for ON TV for the freedom it grants.