Journalists under physical assault in Egypt

[Joanne98]

Source: CPJ

New York, February 2, 2010--Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak have begun violently attacking journalists reporting on the streets of Cairo today, a shift in tactics from recent media censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. CPJ calls on the Egyptian military to provide protection for journalists.

"The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses to their actions," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "The government has resorted to blanket censorship, intimidation, and today a series of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs. The situation is frightening not only because our colleagues are suffering abuse but because when the press is kept from reporting, we lose an independent source of crucial information."

•Ahmed Bajano, an Al-Arabiya correspondent in Cairo, was beaten while covering a pro-Mubarak demonstration, according to news reports. Bajano and his camera crew were attacked in Mustafa Mahmoud Square by men in plainclothes. He suffered a concussion and was taken to a nearby hospital. Another Al-Arabiya journalist who spoke on the air via telephone but did not identify herself by name also reported that she had been beaten by plainclothes police or government-hired thugs. Al-Arabiya's Cairo office was attacked and its windows broken, the satellite station reported. Another network reporter said on the air that her colleague Ahmad Abdel Hadi was seized by what appeared to be pro-Mubarak supporters near Tahrir Square, forced in a car, and driven away. The reporter added that she has not been able to get through to Abdel Hadi on his mobile phone since.

•A group of men described as "plainclothes police" attacked the headquarters of the independent daily Al-Shorouk in Cairo today, the paper reported. Reporter Mohamed Khayal and photographer Magdi Ibrahim were injured. Ibrahim's camera was smashed. The editorial team of another independent daily, Al-Masry al-Youm, decided to evacuate its headquarters in downtown Cairo after hearing about the attack on Al-Shorouk, according to the paper's website. The website also reported that army officers confiscated a press card and a memory card from one of its reporters on the street today.


Read more: http://cpj.org/2011/02/journalists-under-physical-assault-in-egypt.php

[PDJane]

1. Being a journalist

is getting to be a dangerous occupation.

[ellenfl]

2. getting to be? eom

[StarsInHerHair]

3. Mobs for Mubarak.....getting rid of witnesses/journalists.....the telling actions

of a dictator.