Members of the Press Syndicate Council in a statement on Monday rejected the behaviour of parliament member Elhamy Agena who insulted journalists as they were working.
The syndicate denounced the MP’s behaviour saying that he used inappropriate words towards the journalists, and that this is punishable by law.
The syndicate further requested from the parliament to act towards what happened, since this could be considered an insult to the House of Representatives itself, adding that “this behaviour was not expected from a member of the House of Representatives.”
Two days ago, Agena insulted journalists while they were covering the governor’s tour in Daqahlia province.
The parliament has apologised to the Press Syndicate for the behaviour witnessed by the parliament member towards a group of journalists, according to parliamentary spokesperson Salah Hassaballah.
In media statements, Agena used inappropriate words towards journalists and claimed that what happened was a verbal brawl started when he requested that a microbus driver reduce the vehicle’s speed, and the bus driver answered, “I have journalists with me.”
“I said ‘so what if you have journalists?”’ Then another journalist responded, “so what if you are a parliament member?”, Agena said, explaining that the debate continued but he apologised to the journalists.
He asserted that he did not use any inappropriate phrases.
The council of the syndicate requested from parliament to open an investigation against Agina. The recently approved media and press law include punishments and fines for whoever bans or insults journalists while they are performing their work.
