Cairo  - Human rights groups and an international media watchdog on Thursday condemned an Egyptian court verdict ordering five journalists to pay hefty fines for violating a ban on reporting about a high-profile murder trial.

The court ordered five Egyptian journalists to pay 10,000 Egyptian pounds (1,800 US dollars) each for reporting on the trial of an influential Egyptian business tycoon accused of ordering a hit on a Lebanese pop singer.

"We think that such a fine is really high for such a case," said Soazig Dollet of the France-based Reporters Without Borders.

"However, we need to underline that the Egyptian judge did not apply the highest verdict. It could have been worse - it could have been jail and fine," Dollet told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.

A media ban was imposed last November on the trial of Hisham Taalat Mustafa, a former chairman of Egypt's largest publicly-traded real estate company, who is accused of ordering a former policeman to kill singer Suzanne Tamim in her luxurious apartment in the Gulf emirate of Dubai last summer.

The media gag was ordered to "prevent any attempts to influence public opinion." Under the ban, the media was only allowed to report on details sanctioned by the court as well as the final verdict.

"A media gag could be useful sometimes, but should not be used widely. We can understand if state security is in question, but this is a crime," added Dollet, who is responsible for the Middle East and North Africa desk at the media watchdog.

"We understand it involves a main figure in the NDP, but it is not a matter of national security," Dollet said, referring to Mustafa, who is a leading figure in Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party.

Egypt's Chief Prosecutor Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud referred the editors of independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm and opposition daily al-Wafd Abbas al-Tarabili, along with three reporters from both papers, to the court after the newspapers carried reports on the trial in violation of the ban.

Mustafa, who was arrested last September, is accused of paying former police officer Mohsen al-Sokary some 2 million dollars to kill the singer. Tamim, 30, was found dead in her apartment on July 28, 2008. She had been stabbed several times.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights also condemned the verdict. In a statement published on its website, it said the fines were an example of restrictions on the freedom of expression.

"These fines are also very high compared to salaries of Egyptian reporters," the statement said. (dpa)