1. Ibrahim Eissa was born on 9 November 1965 and is an Egyptian journalist and TV personality best known for co-founding the popular Egyptian weekly Al-Dustour.
27 Facts About Ibrahim Eissa
1. 2.
Ibrahim Eissa is currently editor-in-chief of Al Tahrir, which he co-founded in July 2011.
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Ibrahim Eissa was born in November 1965 in Quesna in the Monufia Governorate in Egypt.
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When he was 17, during his first year at the Cairo University School of Journalism, Eissa began working for the magazine Rose al-Yusuf, becoming its youngest editorial secretary.
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However, when Ibrahim Eissa refused to support the 1990 Iraqi invasion, he was forced to resign within a year from his political editorship and assume the literary editor position.
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Ibrahim Eissa then approached Eissa and the two created the weekly newspaper Al-Dustour under a foreign license in 1995.
7.
Ibrahim Eissa stated that the reason for its popularity was how the paper spoke to its core audience, the youth.
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Ibrahim Eissa tried to write under a pseudonym for the People's Democratic Party, but his efforts were met with government intervention.
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When Dream TV was started in 2001, Ibrahim Eissa was called on to host the current affairs show, Aala Al Qahwa.
10.
Ibrahim Eissa fell back on his second choice and became editor in chief at Al-Dustour.
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In June 2006, Ibrahim Eissa was convicted of defaming Hosni Mubarak in a piece that described a lawyer's attempt to take the president and his family to court for corruption.
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Ibrahim Eissa was sentenced to a year in prison, alongside his lawyer Said Abdullah.
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The ruling was overturned in February 2007, and Ibrahim Eissa instead had to pay a $3,950 fine.
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On 5 December 2007, Ibrahim Eissa faced trial in Algalaa' Court after he published an article about Mubarak's health problems.
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On 8 October 2008, Ibrahim Eissa's sentence was pardoned by Mubarak.
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On 5 October 2010, Ibrahim Eissa was fired from his position at Al-Dustour after the paper was purchased by Sayyid Badawi, a businessman and member of the Egyptian Wafd Party.
17.
Since the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Ibrahim Eissa has been involved with two media projects.
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Ibrahim Eissa was one of three owners of the channel, along with Ahmed Abu-Haiba and Mohamed Morad.
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However, in October 2011, following serious financial challenges, Ibrahim Eissa sold his share of the channel to two businessmen who co-owned Ibrahim Eissa's share, Nabil Kamel and Dr Said Tawfiq.
20.
Ibrahim Eissa continued working with the channel, serving as a television reporter for the show Fil Midan.
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Ibrahim Eissa has been criticized by activists for shifting his testimony during Mubarak's 2011 trial and 2014 retrial.
22.
Ibrahim Eissa originally accused police forces of shooting protesters, but said in the retrial he did not witness shootings.
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Ibrahim Eissa stated in the retrial that Mubarak was a patriotic president who neither ordered the use of force against protesters nor the cutting of phone and internet lines, and only called on security authorities to use necessary measures to contain chaos.
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In 2008, Ibrahim Eissa was given the Gebran Tueni Award in Lebanon.
25.
In March 2011, Ibrahim Eissa was awarded an Index on Censorship's 2010 Freedom of Expression Award.
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Ibrahim Eissa was characterized as a "one-man barometer of Egypt's struggle for political and civic freedom".
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Ibrahim Eissa was specifically awarded as a result of his insistence on democracy, and as a result of his journalistic position and opinions against Mubarak's toppled regime.