The Board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), meeting in Vienna, Austria, on 12 October 2011, calls for greater protection for the right to freedom of expression in Egypt.

The Board calls on the Military Council to respect freedom of association and end the ongoing criminalisation of sit-ins and peaceful protests. It calls on the country’s leaders to end their pursuit of critical voices in the press and on the Internet so as to encourage transparency and debate in Egyptian society.

In the run-up to elections, the Board calls on legislators to work closely with all relevant actors to ensure positive constitutional guarantees that protect the role of the press and recognise its essential contribution to the process of democratic transition.

The Board also calls for media development to be placed high on the agenda of development agencies and governments and for a concerted international effort to rebuild the independent press in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, in the wake of democratic revolution.