By Jeremy Reynalds, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (jeremyreynalds@gmail.com)
CAIRO (ANS -- October 15, 2015) -- Egyptian
police raided Sat-7 channel's Cairo offices on Oct. 10, confiscating
equipment and briefly detaining the pioneer Arabic Christian
broadcaster's country office director.
According to a story by World
Watch Monitor (WWM), detained for hours before being released, director
Farid Samir faces possible charges related to operating a satellite TV
channel “without the necessary licenses,” a press release by the Sat-7
Cyprus office said two days later.
Sat-7 said the charges are
based on a “lack of and/or incorrect information,” the statement added,
emphasizing that its Egypt branch operates under the legal umbrella of
the Coptic Evangelical Church.
First launched in 1996, Sat-7
Arabic has since expanded to include channels in Farsi and Turkish, as
well as an exclusive Sat-7 Kids channel.
The non-denominational
channels are well-known for their outreach to Christians in the region,
enjoy a non-denominational remit. An estimated 75 percent of Sat-7
Arabic aired shows are currently produced in studios in Egypt and
Lebanon.
WWM said Sat-7 has
distinguished itself from other Christian channels broadcasting mainly
from outside the Middle East “by keeping a sober and non-confrontational
tone, adhering to a strict non-polemical Christian message.”
It is now up to the Egyptian prosecutors to determine whether a case would proceed to court.
“Aimed to serve”
During a two-hour hearing on
Oct 11, police charges were brought against Samir relating to the
channel's registration, said Middle East Concern (MEC), an advocacy
group monitoring the human rights of Christian communities in the Middle
East and North Africa.
Sat-7 is accused of failure
to hold licences for some of its editing activities and failure to
comply with regulations for live streaming of broadcasts on the
internet, WWM reported MEC added.
The charges are dismissed by
Sat-7 lawyers, who pointed to “factual errors” in the Censorship
Department's report and to evidence presented confirming Sat-7's sound
legal standing, MEC noted.
With a target of impacting an
estimated total audience of well over 8.5 million people, the Sat-7
channels have become a household name for Christians in the Middle East.
WWM said the latest police action is expected to cause temporary
disruption to the channel's expressed efforts to “enrich goodwill” in a
region currently racked by religious turmoil.
On the channel's website,
Samir emphasized Sat-7's ministry as one “based on love and which aims
to serve our beloved country (of Egypt).”
For more information visit www.worldwatchmonitor.org
Photo
captions: 1) Sat-7 aims to be a church at home for those with no access
to churches (Wazala/Sat-7). 2) Jeremy and Elma Reynalds..
About
the writer: Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News
Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy
Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, www.joyjunction.org.
He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New
Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in
Los Angeles. His newest book is "From Destitute to Ph.D." Additional
details on "From Destitute to Ph.D." are available at www.myhomelessjourney.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife, Elma. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@gmail.com.
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