WATANI International
9 August 2009
On 27 July the Supreme Press Council (SPC) convened and approved permits for three new periodicals: one for the Court of Cassation, another on International Judiciary, and one on Legal Awareness. The approvals, however, fell short of including Watani Braille, the publication for the visually impaired issued by Watani Printing and Publishing Corporation. Needless to say, we at Watani felt severely frustrated and disappointed at what we considered an unjustified omission.
I have no idea how early the publishers of the three periodicals had applied for permits, but I do know that Watani applied for a permit to publish ++Watani Braille++ in April 2005. The correspondence between Watani and the SPC on this topic makes a case study of the autocratic powers certain State apparatuses possess. These apparatuses monitor, question, and take to account the organisations they supervise, yet are themselves beyond questioning or accountability. I believe the only way out of the unreasonable oppression of State apparatuses is to stipulate a deadline for the approval or rejection—with reasons cited—of applications. Once a deadline expires the application is automatically approved. Such a provision is already found in other laws.
The monthly Watani Braille offers visually impaired readers material selected from Watani throughout the month. The idea was the brainchild of one of our young reporters, Sherifa Massoud who herself is blind. Ms Massoud became the managing editor of ++Watani Braille++ and works with a team of both healthy and visually impaired persons.
The first issue of Watani Braille was published in April 2005 as a non-periodical publication, until it could obtain official permit from the SPC. It could then be sold on news stands; so far it is printed in limited numbers and distributed, free of charge, to subscribers and NGOs which care for the visually impaired. Watani Braille is sent to the readers by post, and here I would like to express my appreciation of the Egyptian Post Authority which relays all post in Braille free of charge. Watani bore the publishing expenses hoping that it would only be a matter of months till a permit was issued. Four years and 44 issues on, Watani Braille is still without permit.
A leafing through our files revealed the following:
In April 2005 Watani applied to the SPC for a permit to publish Watani Braille. In July 2005 the SPC required proof that the editorial staff of the new publication were members of the Journalists’ Syndicate. Watani replied that, since the material published in Watani Braille was taken from Watani, it was written by journalists who wrote in Watani—a fully licensed paper with fully licensed staff.
Despite repeated explanations to the SPC that Watani Braille was not an independent paper, the SPC insisted upon its demand. When Watani sent a list of the members of the editorial team in September 2006, with copies of their syndicate membership cards, the SPC demanded certificates from the Journalists’ Syndicate, issued separately for each journalist, confirming membership. Following several failed attempts and plenty of lost time, the required certificates were furnished in October 2008. In December of the same year, three-and-a-half years following our first application, the SPC wrote to us requiring proof that Watani Printing and Publishing Corporation was licensed to issue Watani Braille, a request we answered a few days later.
We thought that would wrap up the matter but, no, we received a letter from the SPC in February 2009 requiring data on the administrative staff of the Braille publication. Once we did that we were asked, in March 2009, to furnish data on its editorial staff. We sent the SPC the required information and attached copies of the Journalists’ Syndicate certificates, noting that the original certificates had been handed to the council.
In April 2009 the SPC again demanded the original syndicate certificates, and again we replied that they were already in its possession. By that time we could see very clearly that the matter was not about required documents, but was about inexplicable procrastination and sidelining Watani. In June 2009 the SPC asked us to pledge our commitment to pay our staff no less than the minimum wage stipulated under the regulations for publishing newspapers, a pledge we directly affirmed.
So what did the SPC do? It issued permits in July for three new publications but not for Watani Braille. This was, for us, the straw that broke the camel’s back. It leaves us no choice but to contend the matter in court. Throughout its history in the press field Watani, according to the annual SPC reports, never committed a single violation. So why is it being treated so unjustly, and for what? For striving to achieve a noble aim by issuing a publication for the visually impaired?
