Security forces arrested three journalists in three different districts on Friday, according to the Journalists Against Torture Observatory (JATO).
Protests were scheduled to take place on 11 November, first called for in September through the Ghalaba Movement’s (“Movement of the Poor”) Facebook page, in order to defend the “poor”.
The journalists were arrested while observing the situation in the streets. They included photojournalist Hesham Mohamed from privately-owned newspaper Al-Watan, photojournalist Abdel Rahman Taher, and correspondent Ahmed Lofty from news website Masrawy. Lotfy was later released.
The arrest came as part of tightened security measures for the 11/11 protest call.
However, no marches have been seen in Cairo’s streets so far.
The calls preceded major economic reform policies that raised concerns regarding their effects on classes of lower income, including the government’s decision to liberate the Egyptian pound on 3 November.
Journalists are usually facing violations by security forces while covering demonstrations. Dozens of journalist were arrested while covering protests and referred to court in fabricated trials.
