CAIRO: Journalists and bloggers have come under fire in Egypt, the most recent spate of media directed violence and attacks carried out by the country's security forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the attacks on media personnel attempting to cover the recent clashes between police and protesters in Egypt, which began last Thursday. Their report said one journalist and one blogger were shot during the violence and a third was arrested and assaulted by police. “Egyptian authorities have an obligation to enforce the law and should demonstrate that attacks on journalists will not go unpunished,” said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, in a press statement. “These attacks show how tenuous the situation is for journalists in Egypt. Authorities must ensure journalists are able to carry out their work unharmed.” CPJ reported that Nile TV's Mahmoud al-Ghazali was hit by pellets on Saturday morning as he reported from the frontlines of the battles. A pellet reportedly hit his ey and he has sustained extensive eye injuries and remains in hospital. Blogger and contributor to the Mosireen network of bloggers Salma Said was shot numerous times on Monday in the Bab el-Louk area of downtown Cairo. She said three pellets hit her in the face. Images of her injuries have belied the constant denials made by the ministry of interior that only tear gas was fired at protesters during the five days of clashes. But police didn't stop at firing at media personnel. On Monday, as Mohamed Rabee of al-Badil daily newspaper was dictating a news story to his colleague over the phone, plainclothes men grabbed him and arrested him. According to his editor Khaled al-Balshi, after police beat him and verbally abused him, he was released approximately one hour later. Since violence erupted in central Cairo in mid-November, dozens of journalists, local Egyptians and foreigners, have been targeted by police and the military. Local reporters say that the situation, although tense, is not as dangerous as it could be. “As long as you know where you are going and when something is happening to move to the right places, it is fairly safe. As safe as it can be considering,” said one American foreign correspondent. The reporter told Bikyamasr.com that “I feel more danger when there are open spaces and when the soldiers and police come with batons, because they can just beat us up like everyone else.” Despite the near constant crackdown on journalists working in the field, including Bikyamasr.com's Joseph Mayton, who was detained and beaten by the military in December, international governments have issued no statements urging the security forces to end its violations on media workers in the country. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/c4VRw Tags: Bloggers, featured, Journalists, MOI Section: Egypt, Human Rights, Latest News, Media
