Journalists' protests a 'further threat to Sisi'

By Hussein Mahmoud

CAIRO

A raid on Egypt’s journalists’ union head office this week could intensify opposition to President Abdel Fattah el Sisi, according to analysts.

On Sunday, police stormed the headquarters of the press syndicate in Cairo, arresting two journalists for allegedly inciting protests and plotting to overthrow the government.

Union officials condemned the raid as a “blatant assault on journalists’ dignity” and have called for the dismissal of the interior minister.

The syndicate was at the center of protests on April 25 over the government’s decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The union said more than 40 journalists were arrested and assaulted during the protest.

Saed Sadek, an academic at the American University in Cairo, said a “revolution against the regime and its violations” could be sparked if other unions joined journalists against the government.

He said previous protests by labor unions, such as that which followed police assaults on two doctors in January, had failed to gain momentum. The demonstration by medics on Feb. 12 was the biggest since the 2013 military coup that unseated President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president.

Sadek said protests by journalists could have a “critical impact on public opinion” amid Egypt’s current economic crisis.

On Wednesday, the syndicate’s headquarters was cordoned off by police as hundreds of journalists gathered to attend an emergency meeting to denounce the raid and arrests. Lawyers also joined the protest.

The day before -- World Press Freedom Day -- the syndicate replaced the flag outside its building with a black banner.

Saad el-Din Ibrahim, a political sociologist at the American University, called on the Interior Ministry to apologize for the raid on the media body.

The ministry has said the arrests were legal and according to a warrant issued by the prosecutor general.

The EU has called the arrests a “worrying development” that “continues a trend of restricting space for civil society and freedom of expression” in Egypt.