Media personnel targeted by Egyptian military

Monday 19 Dec 2011
The Egyptian military’s use of violence against media personnel during the past three days in Cairo’s Tahrir Square has been condemned by press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

In its summary, RSF reported that the crew of French radio station France Culture was attacked by pro-government militiamen. Upon arrival, the crew began recording the violence of the soldiers against demonstrators in the nearby Tahrir Square. Half an hour later, they were attacked and beaten by militiamen, who destroyed part of their recordings.

The temporary premises of Cairo News Company, a TV news agency, was raided on Saturday by about 30 soldiers in civilian dress, who threw cameras and other equipment out of the window. A CNC source put the damage at around US$100,000 dollars but said no one was injured.

The headquarters of the Egyptian satellite TV station ON TV was raided by the armed forces while it was broadcasting a report on the violence in Tahrir Square. Several cameras were confiscated.

CBC’s broadcasting from Cairo was interrupted. Al-Jazeera’s broadcasting was also interrupted by soldiers who destroyed cameras. The station’s Cairo representative was arrested and held for two hours.

US journalist Joseph Mayton was physically attacked by military police while covering the demonstrations on Sunday. He claims to have been roughed up and threatened for over 10 hours.

Reporter Amr Saeed sustained an eye injury when he was attacked while covering clashes.

Journalist Hassan Shaheen was hit in the face and several parts of his body by soldiers while another reporter Ashraf Al-Wardani was briefly detained and beaten.