By Tarek El-Tablawy - 2012-08-23T13:08:05Z

An Egyptian court ordered the editor-in-chief of an independent newspaper critical of the Muslim Brotherhood to be detained pending trial, in a case seen as a benchmark for press freedom under President Mohamed Mursi.

Egyptian journalists and rights groups have described the prosecution of Al-Dostours Islam Afifi as the latest and most aggressive push by Islamists against what they say is biased media coverage. Afifi was ordered held in custody pending the resumption of his trial on Sept. 16 in Giza, the court said in a faxed statement. The decision prompted protests in the courtroom, the state-run Ahram Gate reported.

Following the appointment of a Brotherhood member as information minister and the prosecution of a television anchor, the case has sparked concern that Mursis administration will replicate curbs on press freedom that were common under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The courts decision is a huge surprise, Afifi said in a phone interview from detention. Its unprecedented. I didnt commit any crime and there was no risk of my fleeing. Where was I going to go? Im already barred from traveling.

Im worried about everything now -- my freedom as a journalist and my freedom as a citizen, he said. This is an old scenario that has been rehearsed before many times under Mubarak. Whats happening now is an attempt to silence the voice of freedom again.

Mursi, the Brotherhoods candidate for president, and Information Minister Salah Abdel-Maqsoud have promised to protect media freedom while stressing that journalists must be accurate and unbiased in their reporting.

Afifi was charged with publishing false information deemed insulting to Mursi, an offense that can carry a jail sentence of several years.

This is a troubling and backward step that Egypts newly elected president should not be taking, Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in an Aug. 16 statement. We urge President Mursi to reverse this course immediately and demonstrate his commitment to press freedom.

Another journalist, Tawfiq Okasha, who heads the Al-Faraeen satellite channel, faces charges of inciting violence against Mursi, and his station has been pulled from the air. Okasha was seen as close to the military council that ruled Egypt before handing over power to Mursi at the end of June.

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Egypt Press Freedom Under Mursi Spotlighted at Editor Trial