• Salama was charged with financing terrorism and joining a terrorist group established in violation of the provisions of the law
• Salama was appointed editor in chief of Al-Ahram newspaper during the Muslim Brotherhood era

Mohammed Abu Zaid

CAIRO: Egypt’s Public Prosecution has ordered the imprisonment of journalist Abdel Nasser Salama, former editor in chief of Al-Ahram newspaper, for 15 days, pending investigations.

Salama was charged with financing terrorism and joining a terrorist group established in violation of the provisions of the law.

Egyptian authorities arrested the former editor in chief at his home on Sunday, in implementation of the Public Prosecution’s decision.

The arrest came as he was accused of “spreading false news on his page on social media and questioning state agencies and institutions.”

Salama was appointed editor in chief of Al-Ahram newspaper during the Muslim Brotherhood era, a position he held until January of 2014, when a decision was issued to dismiss him.

Journalist Mohammed Abdel Hadi Allam replaced Salama.

A month before his dismissal, a ruling had been issued by the Administrative Court invalidating his appointment as editor in chief of Al-Ahram because he did not meet the two basic conditions required for the position.

The conditions stipulated that he should have spent 10 continuous years working in the institution and that he should not mix advertising with editorial content.

The court confirmed that Salama received monthly payments before his appointment as editor in chief of Al-Ahram for bringing advertisements to the prestigious newspaper in Egypt.