Some disconcerting news just broke for SAT-7 Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. On Saturday 10th October, President of SAT-7 USA, Rex Rogers explains, “The authorities in Cairo came unannounced to SAT-7’s offices with search warrants.” These were officers from Egypt’s Censorship Department, he says, adding, “They took equipment, they took materials, and they took the executive director and detained him, suggesting that we didn’t have a series of licenses to operate the facility.”
The Office Director, Mr. Farid Samir, was detained for 6 hours but then released after an 11 October hearing at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “He has to return, however, because there are still some legal issues that have to be worked through.” Rogers says Samir faces four charges relating to operating a satellite TV channel without the necessary licenses, although the SAT-7 Egypt office is a program production facility and not a satellite broadcast center for any of the SAT-7 channels.
”We can say ‘Praise God!’ Through our local protestant Church under which we operate there in Cairo, we had an appropriate attorney. In fact, there were three attorneys present,” notes Rogers, adding that the attorneys were able to answer almost all of the charges. (The work of SAT-7 Egypt is carried out under the legal umbrella of the Coptic Evangelical Church, but its services are in support of all the Church denominations in Egypt.) According to information released through SAT-7 International, throughout the course of the hearing, it soon became clear that all charges are based on a lack of and/or incorrect information...
The Office Director, Mr. Farid Samir, was detained for 6 hours but then released after an 11 October hearing at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “He has to return, however, because there are still some legal issues that have to be worked through.” Rogers says Samir faces four charges relating to operating a satellite TV channel without the necessary licenses, although the SAT-7 Egypt office is a program production facility and not a satellite broadcast center for any of the SAT-7 channels.
”We can say ‘Praise God!’ Through our local protestant Church under which we operate there in Cairo, we had an appropriate attorney. In fact, there were three attorneys present,” notes Rogers, adding that the attorneys were able to answer almost all of the charges. (The work of SAT-7 Egypt is carried out under the legal umbrella of the Coptic Evangelical Church, but its services are in support of all the Church denominations in Egypt.) According to information released through SAT-7 International, throughout the course of the hearing, it soon became clear that all charges are based on a lack of and/or incorrect information...
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