Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghaffar expressed his high regard for the work of journalists and their support for police security efforts, an official statement from the ministry said Monday.
His statements came during a meeting at the ministry with Head of the Press Syndicate Abdel Mohsen Salama to discuss cooperation with the press. For his part, Salama took the opportunity to stress the “good relations” between the two institutions, the statement added.
A joint event on security was also held by the Supreme Media Council and the Police Academy on Tuesday to conduct security-affiliated training sessions for journalists.
Salama has been keen on delivering such messages and inviting the minister to visit the syndicate following last year’s tensions which resulted from the unprecedented raid on the syndicate and prison sentences handed to its former leaders.
But earlier this month, the syndicate’s board held an emergency meeting to condemn the arrest of two journalists. According to a statement the council issued on 14 December, the journalists were arrested while “doing their jobs by covering a rally organised by syndicate members [to protest US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem]”.
The statement further demanded to know details on and the whereabouts of a third journalist who was detained at Cairo International Airport while on his way to Kuwait.
Meanwhile, five board members said Monday that journalist Islam Abdel Aziz’s location remains unknown and that the syndicate failed to provide proper legal assistance to journalists as promised, calling for an emergency board meeting.
