Egypt's top prosecutor issued a gag order in the case of the storming of the Journalists Syndicate premises on Sunday and the arrest of journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud El-Sakka. "The arrest warrant and the procedures being conducted by the Ministry of Interior are correct and the two suspects are facing criminal charges that are not related to their work," the prosecution said. The statement explained that there are no legal or constitutional conditions that prevent police from arresting journalists from inside the syndicate headquarters. "If investigations reveal that both journalists agreed with the syndicate chairman to hide in the syndicate, this will be considered a violation of the law and a crime committed by the chairman himself," it added. Badr and El-Sakka were questioned by the prosecution on Monday and given 15 days detention pending investigation into charges of “spreading false news”, “inciting the public,” and “plotting to overthrow the regime.” The two were among many ordered arrested ahead of the 25 April protests against the recent Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island agreement. The Journalists Syndicate condemned the "unprecedented and barbaric attack" by police against the journalists and called for an "urgent" general assembly meeting and the immediate sacking of interior minister Magdy Abdel-Ghafar. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/207002.aspx
