A misdemeanors court in Cairo today found that Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the daily Al-Dustur, had damaged the national economy by printing stories repeating rumors about President Hosni Mubarak’s health last August. The court sentenced Eissa to six months in prison, but freed him on bail, pending appeal.

Article 102(bis) of the Penal Code allows for the detention of “whoever deliberately diffuses news, information, or false or tendentious rumors, or propagates exciting publicity, if this is liable to disturb public security, spread horror among the people, or cause harm or damage to the public interest.”

Eissa’s feisty, sarcastic style has repeatedly landed him in trouble with the authorities for more than a decade. Several other cases against him for his writings are still in the courts.