CAIRO: Journalists at Al Badeel newspaper staged a sit-in at the Press Syndicate Saturday demanding membership. According to Al Badeel journalists, the newspaper's administration presented the papers of both the newspaper and its employees well before the deadline at the end of February, when they found out that new syndicate board, elected in November 2007, had changed the admissions criteria. The changes stipulate that newspapers had to be running for a year to be recognized by the syndicate and for journalists to receive membership. In a written statement released to the press, Al Badeel journalists claimed they were victims of "a settlement of accounts by syndicate board leaders, which has deprived them of membership. "We were shocked by fabricated and unjustified hurdles when our application to join the syndicate was rejected ... at first their pretext was that the paper had not presented sufficient financial and administrative details concerning the journalists. The paper immediately responded saying that these details were pending approval by the workers office and on completion a copy would be immediately provided to the syndicate ... the syndicate then came up with the excuse that the paper has not yet been running for a full year, but this was not one of the stipulations given to the newspaper, the statement read. Many of the journalists believe that the current syndicate chief, Makram Mohamed Ahmed had "engineered events to prevent their admission into the syndicate. "Our paper backed Ragae El-Merghani, the candidate who ran against him in the elections, and now Makram Mohamed Ahmed is settling scores, Al Badeel cartoonist Mohamed Abdulatif told Daily News Egypt. "It seems they are making one rule for us and another for other newspapers because we supported and campaigned for an independent journalists union, and didn't support the 'right' candidate. Members of the Press Syndicate enjoy financial privileges, including pay supplements, and expenses, as well as electoral opportunities to the syndicate board. However, it is the legal support offered to syndicate members that journalists are most concerned with. "If we don't have syndicate membership we have no documentation, or press cards, to prove we are journalists not ordinary citizens, Selma El-Wardani, a reporter with Al Badeel told Daily News Egypt. "I have been in situations where I'd be interviewing people on the street and ended up being questioned by state security. If we have nothing to prove we are journalists the situation can get dangerous...If we were arrested or made to face charges as a result of journalistic activity, the syndicate would stand by us. But as we are now, we have no support whatsoever. But a leading syndicate board member Abdel Mohsen Salama, made an appearance on the steps of the syndicate to reassure journalists that the syndicate will support their demands."The paper was not admitted into the syndicate for the simple reason that it did not present the necessary papers, but we are behind them and are not opposed to their joining the union on principle, he said.
