CAIRO: Al-Jazeera journalist Howayda Taha successfully appealed against a six-month prison sentence in a Heliopolis appeals court Monday but failed to have a LE 20,000 fine overturned. Taha was appealing against a sentence handed down last May by Egypt's state security criminal court charging her with "harming Egypt's national interest for a documentary she was making on torture in Egypt's prisons - "Beyond the Sun - which has since been aired. The LE 20,000 fine was upheld for "possessing TV tapes, with the aim of distributing and broadcasting them, which included events contrary to reality about torture in Egypt, and which are likely to damage the reputation of the country abroad. Taha spent a month in prison following the original sentence before being released after her petition for appeal was accepted. Taha's lawyer Gamal Eid told Daily News Egypt that while he was relieved the prison sentence was quashed, he was disappointed with the judge's decision to retain the fine. "Overall we are not happy with the ruling, he said. "Howayda made her documentary based on true information. This is both a step forward and a step backward. Al-Jazeera s Cairo bureau chief, Hussein Abdel Ghani, told Reuters that threats of imprisonment and excessive fines undermined freedom of the press in Egypt. Any fair judge, any responsible authority that respects freedom of the press must abolish these punishments, he said. The ruling brings to an end a year-long episode which saw the judge who was originally expected to hear Taha's appeal step down over what he cited as a conflict of interest. It was reported that Judge Mahmoud Hamza - a member of the reform camp of the Egyptian judiciary - would not adjudicate in a case in which he was under pressure to rule against freedom of speech. Taha was arrested for a second time two weeks ago on separate charges of not having the required permits to film a documentary she is making on marginalized segments of society called "In the Shadow. After a lengthy interrogation she was released without charge, but was informed that the investigation is ongoing. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information's most recent freedom of opinion and expression report found that 2007 was the worst year for Egyptian media freedom since Egyptian independence in 1952.
