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The GEBO appealed the ruling before the Supreme Administrative Court, asking first for an urgent injunction against the ruling and second that it be overturned entirely. On 15 June 2009, the court, headed by Judge Ibrahim al-Saghir, issued the injunction. Although the court stated that it “would not neglect to affirm its utter rejection of every word—nay, every letter—of the foul poem…and the court affirms the need to take deterrent criminal and disciplinary measures against anyone who participated in this shameful work,” it nevertheless concluded that Egyptian law does not allow any authority, including the judicial authority, to cancel the license of a newspaper. Rather, it only allows the judiciary to hold the journalist responsible if he “abuses freedom of the press and freedom of expression…in addition to the measures that may be taken against the newspaper who abuses this freedom.” The court justified the urgent injunction against the ruling to cancel the magazine’s license by saying that closing the magazine would “impinge on freedom of the press, expression and opinion, a constitutional right which is always—in the proceedings of this court—granted the principle of urgency…and would displace the magazine’s staff and deprive them of a livelihood.” The court referred the appeal to the State Commissioners' Authority to prepare a legal opinion before ruling on the demand to overturn the initial decision.
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