An Egyptian court on Tuesday ordered four television channels to halt transmission, including Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, devoted solely to covering news on Egypt.
The Administrative Court order also applied to the Amman-based Al-Yarmouk channel, affiliated with Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood; the Gaza-based Al-Quds channel, affiliated with Palestinian resistance movement Hamas; and the Ahrar 25 channel, affiliated with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
The four satellite-television channels are known for having provided live coverage of two seven-week-long sit-ins by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza's Nahda Square.
Both sit-ins were violently dispersed by security forces in mid-August, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured.
Lawsuits against the television channels accuse them of having failed to obtain the necessary broadcast licenses and of propagating "false news" which "tarnishes Egypt's reputation."
The same court decided on Monday to close down and revoke the license of the Salafist-leaning Hafez satellite-television channel. The authorities had initially closed down the Hafez channel on July 3, immediately following Morsi's ouster by the military.
Egypt's interim government has accused Qatar's Al Jazeera news channel of bias in favor of Morsi and his supporters in its Egypt coverage, an accusation the channel denies.
Egyptian comedian Hani Ramzy had earlier filed a lawsuit accusing the channel of broadcasting content that "posed a threat to Egypt's national unity."
Administrative Court verdicts are subject to immediate implementation, but can be appealed later.
Courts orders Al-Jazeera's live Egypt channel, 3 other TV channels off air.
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