The Press Syndicate has announced solidarity with the journalists of the party newspaper of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party following claims that security forces raided the paper’s headquarters.
In a statement on Wednesday, the syndicate stressed that it stands in solidarity with the journalists of the Freedom and Justice Newspaper “and their right to practice the profession in safety and without threat.”
The paper’s journalists published a statement earlier on Wednesday and held the Press Syndicate responsible for safeguarding the paper’s freedom to operate. It pointed out that it had “suffered this kind of pressure, intimidation and confrontation at the hands of security outlaws more than once without any reaction from the [Press Syndicate], headed by leftist writer Diaa Rashwan.”
The syndicate stressed that it opposed the closure of newspapers and the confiscation of equipment and that this incident has made it “more determined than ever to put this guarantee in the constitution being written now.”
The syndicate called on the Ministry of Interior to provide protection for the headquarters of the paper and to “protect it from any threats and to safeguard the freedom of opinion and expression.” It also pointed out, “a victory for the fundamental value of our freedom would remain incomplete unless we respect the right of our differences in opinion.”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the raid on the headquarters on Wednesday, claiming it was carried out in response to a court decision earlier this week banning activity by the Brotherhood. RSF said that the targeting of media sympathetic to the Brotherhood “is unacceptable and dangerous for the future of democracy in Egypt.”
The paper printed on Thursday with the headline quoting FJP secretary of foreign relations Amr Darrag, who said: “we will not and have not given up on legitimacy.”
On Wednesday differing accounts emerged regarding the incident at the headquarters. A security source speaking to state-owned Al-Ahram denied that police carried out a raid on the offices of the paper.
