30 journalists assaulted and detained during 4 May Cairo protest

More than 30 journalists assaulted and detained during 4 May Cairo protest
9 May, 2012 – Reporters without Borders

After deadly clashes on 2 May near the defence ministry, thousands of Egyptians took to the streets of Cairo and Alexandria two days later to protest against the army’s hold on power.

In Cairo, demonstrators gathered, mostly in the Abbassiya district, near the defence ministry, despite warnings the day before from the army against any threat to military premises, and the deployment of large numbers of security forces.

The overall toll among the demonstrators was heavy — two dead and more than 130 injured. Those working in the media suffered similarly.

Reporters Without Borders recorded at least 32 assaults and detentions of journalists on 4 May alone. Many cameras and mobile phones were seized, some of which have not been returned to their owners. (Read: http://almesryoon.com/permalink/658…)

The press freedom organization strongly condemns such brutal treatment of media workers and demands that those responsible be identified and brought to justice. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is deservedly a new entry in the list of Predators of Freedom of Information published by Reporters Without Borders on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May.

Toll of 4 May

Of at least 32 journalists targeted:

20 were assaulted or beaten
11 were injured
19 were arrested
5 were detained
1 was abducted
7 had equipment seized

Cases in detail

A five-member crew from the satellite station Misr 25, comprising reporters Ahmed Abdel Alim, Ahmed Fadl, Musa’ab Hamed and Hassan Khodary (injured that morning in the Abbassiya clashes), and photographer Ahmad Lutfi, were doing a live broadcast near the Al-Nour mosque when they were arrested, taken into the mosque and asked for identification. According to Lutfi, they were all subjected to violence and humiliation by the military police. After seizing all their equipment, troops took them to a military control unit.

Musa’ad El-Barbari, deputy director of the Misr 25 station, said the five men appeared before the public prosecutor on 5th May and faced five charges each:

Association with a group intent on disturbing public order and preventing an institution of the state from performing its duties.
Use of force and violence against agents of the security forces responsible for protecting state institutions.
Blocking public and private transport, blocking streets in the area around the defence ministry.
Illegal assembly
Entering a prohibited military zone.

Although the station produced documents proving that it employed the five men as journalists and showing they were there purely in a professional capacity, El-Barbari said the prosecutor refused to take this into account. …more