On Saturday 10 October, officers from Egypt’s Censorship Department came to the SAT-7 studios with a search warrant and removed items of equipment, including cameras and computers used for editing.
The office director, Mr Farid Samir, was detained for six hours, but then released. He faces four charges relating to operating a satellite TV channel without the necessary licences, although the SAT-7 Egypt office is a programme production facility and not a satellite broadcast centre for any of the SAT-7 channels.
In police custody
A hearing was held on Sunday 11 October at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, during which it became clear that all the charges are based on a lack of and/or incorrect information. A decision will be taken by the Public Prosecutor concerning whether this case will go to court.
