08 Feb 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
Egyptian authorities have started confiscating existing press cards from journalists and asking them to contact the Ministry of Information to obtain new temporary credentials, it was reported yesterday. Foreign journalists who are trying to cover the protests in the country have been told that they need new accreditation from the ministry if they want to remain in the country. It has also been reported that the military has been obstructing journalists from carrying out their duties, confiscating their equipment and refusing entry to many to Tahrir Square.
07 Feb 11 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
Amid the constant Egyptian government promises these days that it is committed to reform, growth and dialogue with all opposition forces, it’s worth noting that the campaign of harassment, detention and arrest of activists and journalists has never actually stopped.
On Sunday, Ayman Mohieldin, a journalist with Al-Jazeera English spent at least six hours bound and blindfolded before finally being released.
Monday brought the news that blogger and activist Kareem Amer had been arrested along with documentary filmmaker Samir Eshra.
Amer’s detention is particularly poignant since the 26-year old had already spent four years in jail for his online writings — which bluntly stated his atheist beliefs. Amer won the Hugo Young Award for Journalism at the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression awards in 2007. He was released in November of last year.
04 Feb 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
As protests continue in Cairo on day of departure, the intimidation of journalists trying to cover the developments persists. Earlier today, correspondents from the Guardian group Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker were interrogated by the Egyptian army, while Patrick Martin and Sonia Verma of the Globe and Mail were attacked by a pro-Mubarak supporters. In addition two correspondents from Radio Free Europe, Robert Tait and Abdelilah Nuaimi, have been detained and the office of Al Jazeera Arabic was raided by pro-Mubarak supporters.
03 Feb 11 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
If Wednesday was the day that the protesters occupying Cairo’s Tahrir Square were besieged by armed pro-government thugs, then Thursday was the journalists’ turn for a little terrifying mob violence.
All through the day, came steadily increasing reports of journalists — both foreigners and native Egyptians — being harassed, detained and even assaulted by pro-Mubarak crowds.
It’s 6pm Cairo time as I write this, and I’ve personally heard of at least a dozen separate incidents. The Washington Post has confirmed on its website that their Cairo Bureau Chief Leila Fadel was “among two dozen journalists arrested this morning by the Egyptian Interior Ministry. We understand that they are safe but in custody.”
At least three reporters from Al Jazeera’s English channel were apparently arrested by the Army, according to staffers there. A Greek journalist was stabbed in the leg, and Mohammed Dahshan, a reporter with the English Edition of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, was beaten by Mubarak supporters — apparently for the crime of carrying a laptop in his bag.
Andrew Lee Butters, a reporter working with Time Magazine was detained and roughed by civilians, who he said were taking orders from uniformed police officers on the scene. The prominent local blogger Sandmonkey was arrested while attempting to bring in medical supplies to help the wounded in Tahrir. He later tweeted
I am ok. I got out. I was ambushed & beaten by the police, my phone confiscated, my car ripped apart & supplies taken
The sheer scope of the number of incidents in one day should immediately discredit any government argument that these were isolated or spontaneous events. This could only have been a coordinated campaign. And it’s a surreal irony that many of these attacks were taking place at the same time that new prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was apologising for the previous day’s violence and promising an investigation.
