At least 30 violations against journalists were recorded in the past week, according to a report published by Journalists Against Torture (JATO) on Sunday. A collective assault committed by lawyers contributed to 22 of the violations, the report stated.
The JATO observatory said it documented the testimonies of 15 reporters and photojournalists while covering the general assembly elections at the Lawyers Syndicate. The journalists reported losing some of their equipment, and claimed they were followed by some lawyers all the way to their syndicate, located near the Lawyers Syndicate in downtown Cairo.
The Press Syndicate released a statement the following day, condemning reported assaults on journalists that took place Sunday during elections in the Lawyers Syndicate general assembly. Syndicate head Sameh Ashour was called on by the Press Syndicate to take action against the perpetrators.
In other reported assaults, a journalist was attacked by Minya residents while covering the funeral of a young Coptic man who was killed in sectarian incidents in the village of Tahna El-Gabal.
Other violations mentioned by the report included security forces temporarily detaining two photojournalists in separate incidents.
Coverage prevention is a difficulty faced by journalists working in Egypt. Since the start of the controversial trial of Press Syndicate leaders Yehia Qalash, Gamal Abdel Reheem, and Khaled El-Balshy, journalists have been banned from covering court sessions. This comes in addition to a media gag order by the prosecutor general in the case of security forces storming the syndicate in May.
On a different note, the Freedoms Committee of the Press Syndicate headed by El-Balshy is scheduled to discuss Monday the latest development on the situation of detained journalists.
