The Press Syndicate condemned reported assaults on journalists that took place Sunday during elections in the Lawyers Syndicate general assembly.
Re-elected Lawyers Syndicate head Sameh Ashour was called on by the Press Syndicate to take action against the perpetrators who attacked journalists covering the event.
The Press Syndicate further called on Ashour to support an investigation into the matter, claiming that journalists were chased and had their equipment broken.
Prior to the Press Syndicate’s statement and after the election results were announced, Ashour apologised to the journalists who were assaulted while the elections were taking place.
Ashour also asked journalists to submit any footage of the assaults in order for the perpetrators to be identified.
Fights had broken out between those who supported Ashour and those who were calling for his ouster, after a vote of no-confidence in him and his board failed earlier that day.
Security personnel were heavily deployed at the Lawyers Syndicate headquarters to secure the voting procedures as well as to quell the altercations.
The vote was embroiled in controversy, with some lawyers claiming that it was illegal, while others claimed that the results were invalid because non-members used fake IDs to vote.
More than 1,000 lawyers had signed a petition calling for Ashour to be dismissed in February. In June, a movement called the National Front to Save the Lawyers (NFSL) was established for the same purpose.
With the result of the vote in favour of Ashour and his board, the NFSL has said they will hold a sit-in at the Lawyers Syndicate headquarters to protest the outcome.
