Only a few days after World Press Freedom Day (which some Egyptian journalists and human rights activists found mournful rather than celebratory) a new media gag was issued by Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat over a case of smuggled artifacts believed to involve senior officials, as reported by Middle East News Agency.
News about the arrest of two senior prosecution brothers buzzed across different media, including the state’s official media. The brothers are accused of looting antiquities in collaboration with some police officers.
This news comes shortly after a series of announcements celebrating the retrieval of smuggled Egyptian antiquities from all over the world. The returned artifacts include 644 pieces from the United States, Spain and France. Despite the efforts of the Antiquities Ministry to preserve Egypt's rich history, uncertainty continues to rise regarding the ability of the Egyptian government to safekeep its historical monuments and treasures
The Criminal Court in Cairo postponed one of the biggest cases of antiquities looting until July, when seven suspects will be tried for the 2003 antiquities robbery of 200 rare artifacts. According to state-owned media Al-Ahram, the two suspects were in possession of 57,000 pieces worth an estimate EGP 320 million ($420 million).
Archeologists were outraged in late April over the demolition of an archaeological site in Alexandria that dates back to the Roman and Hellenistic eras, circa 323 BC.
“The site includes unique artifacts that exist nowhere else in the Mediterranean,” Monica Hanna, an archaeological researcher, told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Media gags have become recurring in Egypt, a matter that stirs a lot of agitation. As of 2015, at least five media gags have been issued, three of them involving police personnel.