A weekly round-up of bogus reports and phony facts in the mainstream and social media.
1. Privatization of the Suez Canal rumors dismissed by Egyptian government
The Egyptian government has denied the existence of any plan to privatize the Suez Canal, stressing the importance of the waterway, which is considered a source of national income, Al Rai newspaper reported.
The media center of the Egyptian cabinet confirmed in a statement the unreliability of such “rumors” aimed at provoking the anger of the Egyptian people, adding there are no plans to privatize the channel to finance the “new administrative capital” being built in the country.
The Suez Canal plays an important role in global trade movement and there has been an increase in the number and load of ships passing through the channel, which “reflected positively on the increase of revenues,” the center added.
The center called on the media and social media users to be “accurate before publishing such rumors, which may lead to confusion of public opinion and anger citizens.”
2. Egyptian Attorney General said secret prisons do not exist
The Egyptian Attorney General’s Office denied reports of the existence of secret prisons in the country, stressing that legal guarantees exist to ensure the conduct of investigations and fair trials of the accused.
This came during the meetings of the 64th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held in the resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt Today reported.
Councilor Hany George, head of the General Directorate of Human Rights in the Attorney General’s Office, said that the general prosecution is fully ready to check any allegations of enforced disappearance.
