The State Information Service (SIS) decided on Tuesday to withdraw the accreditation of the Guardian Newspaper correspondent in Egypt over publishing fake news about the number of coronavirus cases in Egypt.
In a statement, SIS warned The New York Times correspondent in Egypt of the necessity of respecting the journalism rules in Egypt, rules set by the American newspaper.
SIS called on the Guardian to apologize for the professional mistakes, which were published in a report on Sunday that included wrong numbers and estimations about the positive cases in Egypt, adding: "The apology should be published in the same way in which the fake report published."
"In case of no response, the SIS will take all the available legal measures, including closing the Guardian office in Egypt and withdraw its license," the statement said.
SIS hailed the professional performance of many international journalism institutions in Egypt, calling all bodies to adhere to the journalism's rules especially in these critical circumstances, which all humanity faces, affirming: "No tolerance with any illegal practices."
"The Guardian's report, which included fatal mistakes, confused Egypt and the world, which follow up with concern about the developments of the deadly virus," the statement read.
"The report contained violations against the principles of journalism," SIS noted, adding that the report depended on one source only (an unidentified Canadian doctor) who conducted a study based on arbitrary estimates of international airline traffic and passenger numbers.
"The correspondents' haste to publish this inaccurate data, which was made up of unrecognized bodies, reveals their bad intentions against the Egyptian interest and their eagerness to defame Egypt," the statement pointed out.
The Egyptian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) which hailed Egypt's efforts against the virus denied these data.
SIS further called on the correspondents to reveal names of confirmed or death cases other than what is announced by the Health Ministry.
Follow the latest news on Google News
