Leftist politician and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi announced on Thursday his intention to file a complaint against an Egyptian private-owned satellite channel and its presenter for "spreading false news".
A statement from Sabahi's media office accused Sada el-Balad channel and presenter Ahmed Moussa of attributing to him false news "for the purpose of creating a rift between the state's leadership, especially President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and political groups including Sabahi."
Moussa claimed on his show on Monday that "Sabahi and his group are launching a campaign … as a vote of no confidence in the president."
Sabahi stressed in a statement that filing the complaint does not contradict media freedom.
"What the channel has done has nothing to do with media freedom," the statement read. "[It involves] spreading completely false news."
When contacted by Aswat Masriya, Sada el-Balad's Programmes Editor Amr al-Khayat refused to comment on Sabahi's statement. He said that when the channel is formally notified that a lawsuit has been filed against it, "we will deal with it".
Sabahi was the only contender against Sisi during the 2014 presidential elections, which Sisi won in landslide.
An Egyptian misdemeanour court sentenced on December 10 Moussa to six months' hard labour on a 5,000 Egyptian-pound bail for insulting a lawyer and "spreading false news" against him.
