House not received any draft law on press until now

The House of Representatives has not received until now any draft law on press and media, affirmed Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal.

The new legislation on press will ban the imprisonment of journalists except in three cases, he added during his meeting Monday with editors-in-chief of newspaper along with the editor-in-chief of Middle East News Agency. 

He, meanwhile, said that he knows that there is coordination between the government and the Syndicate of Journalists to reach a new draft law on regulating press affairs before referring it to the House of Representatives. 

Abdel Aal further said that he could not decide about the possibility of discussing the press draft law during this parliamentary session or the upcoming one. 

The parliament is committed only to discussing two draft laws in the current round which is the transitional justice and places of worship, he added. 

The new legislation on press will ban the imprisonment of journalists except in three cases which are inciting violence,discrimination and breaching privacy. 

The House of Representatives respects press freedom, he affirmed. 

Abdel Aal, meanwhile, assured Journalists' Syndicate chief Yehia Qalash that the new press and media law will not be issued without the participation of the media persons and journalists in it. 

Qalash, for his part, said that the Journalists' Syndicate submitted to the government last August a draft law on regulating press affairs.

Source : MENA