Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday no journalist had been charged for a reason related to the freedom of expression, but rather for committing what is considered crimes from the perspective of the Egyptian law.
Shoukry was replying to a question on the human rights situation in Egypt during a press conference gathering the Jordanian, French, and German foreign ministers.
Shoukry noted any journalist could resort to the Egyptian judiciary to clarify the truth.
"Egypt refrains from criticizing the human rights situation in other countries based on the country's belief that assessing the scope and extent of human rights is a responsibility of the concerned community, not external parties," Shoukry said.
"Countries and their people have the right to assess the extent to which they enjoy their rights. We can criticize Germany and other countries for their practices towards human rights, but the Egyptian policy refrains from this given that each community has its circumstances and challenges it faces," the top diplomat explained.
He thought that the circumstances in Germany nowadays differ from they were 70 or 100 years ago due to the political movement, economic progress, and others because of the stability enjoyed by Europe, while other regions still face ongoing challenges.
Concerning the new US administration and its support of the human rights, Shoukry affirmed Egypt shares the new administration's keenness to promote the human rights situation, wishing that its assessment would be based on real information not from segments not representing the whole Egyptian society.
He pointed to segments that exploit their support of human rights to defame Egypt's image abroad by supporting organizations that encourage extremism and violence and deeply communicate with many media outlets.
The foreign minister urged the attendees to tour Cairo's streets and talk with Egyptians about the reality of the human rights conditions here, which he described as assuring.
He also wished that countries would respect each community's privacy and not resort to criticism.
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