Former Head of Egypt’s Press Syndicate Yahia Qalash submitted an appeal before the Cassation Court against the verdict issued by a Cairo misdemeanours court, sentencing syndicate leaders to a suspended one-year prison term.

Qalash’s lawyer said that they will appeal the verdict at the Cassation Court to defend the cause of press freedom and this syndicate. He added, “What currently matters more is the continuous battle with the regime for press freedom.” He criticized the fact that no investigations were conducted into the historic, unprecedented police raid on the syndicate.

“There is much more to this case. It is about this regime’s persistence in attacking and harassing journalists. Based on the freedoms report adopted by the syndicate’s general assembly, our case was one of 800 violations against journalists in 2016,” he said.

“Not only do I believe that this cause should be a priority on the agenda of the new syndicate council, but I would say that disregarding the Ministry of Interior’s assault on the syndicate would be selling the cause of press freedom in favour of benefit to and from the regime,” he concluded.