Amid Cairo chaos, a rash of attacks on journalists

Egyptian authorities have arrested two Al Jazeera staff in Cairo, according to a report by the Qatar-based news network. The network's Arabic language broadcast, monitored by NBC News, said Cairo bureau chief Abdel Fatah Faiad and local reporter Ahmed Youseef were detained Friday.

Earlier, the station reported that supporters of President Hosni Mubarak had stormed Al Jazeera's Cairo office, and set its equipment on fire, and that its Web site had been hacked.

In a report released Friday by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-profit watchdog organization, there have been more than 100 direct attacks on reporters and news offices in Egypt since the mass protests began. Within the previous 24 hours, CPJ said there had been 10 anti-press assaults, eight detentions and two attacks on newsrooms.

It also noted that the first reported media death had taken place. Ahmad Mohamed Mahmoud, a journalist with Al-Ta'awun, newspaper, died in the hospital from gunshot wounds sustained on January 28.

"It is stupefying that the government continues to send out thugs and plainclothes police to attack journalists and to ransack media bureaus," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.

 

Discuss this post

I think Mubarak has no intentions of leaving-ever. The stall tactics are obvious, while he appoints his right hand murderous military leader as liaison for peace. Shortly, he'll be forced to leave. I hope they quickly form an alternative government as anarchy and chaos often follows revolution.

I think it would be a slap in the face by the US to any new government if we grant his residency. He's stolen enough money to buy an island in the Bahamas.

Egyptian citizens---Good luck and stay alive!

    Reply#1 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:17 PM EST

    Why shouldn't journalist be attacked. From NBC, I see no objective reporting, they stir up the protesters by having the title "Rage & Revolution". It's a damn shame they didn't see the people of Iraq worthy of support when Saddam Hussein was murdering them. They did nothing but slam the Bush administration for trying to get rid of a dictator 10 times as bad as Mubarak. Now suddenly they're out there trying to stir up a war. What gives? Suddenly in Egypt they have all this compassion for the populace. Where was is ten years ago. Traitors, that's how I see them.

      Reply#2 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:43 PM EST

      Littlebouchet--Our country, all along, has backed dictators that would benefit us. We're always on the wrong moral side--Noriega, Shah of Iran, Babtista, Mubarak, Sadam--you know the list. It's time that, unless we are asked by the people, to stay out of it.

      As for media--they shed a light on what going on. Do you want to actually know or wait until Mubarak releases his official version.

      Bush--don't even go there---he should be tried for war crimes.

        #2.1 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:54 PM EST

        I left you a "short" list of journalist who have been assaulted below at #4. I admit I have posted this once before yesterday. 9 times in a day is a bit much, don't you think A.Smith?

        • 1 vote
        #2.2 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 8:23 PM EST

        LB--Journalists are always granted access in free societies. Were you concerned about the rights of those in China as tanks crushed unarmed students? They took a poll in Iraq. The poll was a single question, "Do you like Iraq now more or when Sadam was in power. Over 80% said Sadam. We installed Sadam in power during the Iran-Iraq war, just as we aided Mubarak. We put dictators in power and expect them to suppress the will of the people. Our tax dollars go to Egypt's military--90%. People work for $2 a day and the inflation rate is 40%. Do you have any idea what the average lives like while a self appointed dictator lives in an grand palace?

        Historically, you would have been pro-British when India wanted their freedoms, as well as South Africa. You would also have stood with the British as all Conservatives did during the American Revolution. Change can be good.

        It becomes bizarrely convenient to think we should make decisions regarding their own governance. I served in the Navy, my father was a WWII submariner, and my son, (remarkably proud of him, is a Lt Commander in the Navy. My entire family sees ourselves as 'citizens of the world'.

        I hope the jouralnsts stay and show us all of the brutality that has gone on under Mabarak and his autocratic rule with that unpleasant stench of a military dictatorship. I hope they film his departure and I hope the US says, "NO" to any form of residency.

          #2.3 - Sat Feb 5, 2011 1:58 AM EST
          Reply

          These thugs are all operating under the orders of the CIA point man and Israeli Mossad confidant Omar (the destroyer) Suleiman. The Israeli-American hand-picked replacement for Hosni Mubarak whom Israel is counting on and helping to crush the Arabic uprising inside Egypt.

          Suleiman ordered the assaults and beatings on the journalists to remove the film crews from covering his sending in waves of Egyptian shock troops under the guise of 'anti-riot' police. Scattered reports state that Israel has sent in UAV's to send in video updates to the Egyptian forces on the concentrations of the protesters.

          Little wonder why the goose-stepping Zionists running Israels government like Suleiman their little Zionist boot licker so much, they are two birds of a feather.

          With Israel's direct actions and help, this is likely going to turn very bloody on the Arabic people in Egypt whose only hope is to continue their protests until Mubarak and the Zionist boot licker Omar (the destroyer) Suleiman are exiled from Egypt permanently. Israel and America has surrounded Omar Suleiman with long time Military generals while performing the Washington Two-Step in telling the world the Egyptian people must decide who their next ruler will be. BS!

          Forcing Omar Suleiman down the throats of the impoverished Egyptian people under the 'guise' of a transition of power is ILLEGAL and AGAINST the Egyptian Constitution. It is unconstitutional by Egyptian law to push the Vice President Omar Suleiman into power as Egypt's worst despotic ruler onto the backs of the Egyptian people.

          But WHEN did Israel ever abide by Laws and Constitutions when it comes to the Arabic People, to Israel's serial criminals and thugs, such is simply business as usual. WAKE-UP America, the Arabic people are not fooled by such crass actions and America treating the Egyptian and Arabic people with such deception is far from 'winning the hearts and minds' of the people across the Middle East.

          • 2 votes
          Reply#3 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:57 PM EST

          For your edification, again. Courtesy of the Committee to protect Journalist : ===============

          Committee to Protect Journalists

          Mubarak intensifies press attacks with assaults, detentions

          SIPA Press agency photojournalist Alfred Yaghobzadeh is treated by anti-government protesters after being wounded during clashes in Cairo. (AP)

          New York, February 3, 2011--Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak unleashed an unprecedented and systematic attack on international media today as his supporters assaulted reporters in the streets while security forces began obstructing and detaining journalists covering the unrest that threatens to topple his government.

          "This is a dark day for Egypt and a dark day for journalism," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "The systematic and sustained attacks documented by CPJ leave no doubt that a government-orchestrated effort to target the media and suppress the news is well under way. With this turn of events, Egypt is seeking to create an information vacuum that puts it in the company of the world's worst oppressors, countries such as Burma, Iran and Cuba.

          "We hold President Mubarak personally responsible for this unprecedented action," said Simon, "and call on the Egyptian government to reverse course immediately."

          In the past 24 hours alone, CPJ has recorded 30 detentions, 26 assaults, and eight instances of equipment having been seized. In addition, plainclothes and uniformed agents reportedly entered at least two hotels used by international journalists to confiscate press equipment. On Wednesday, CPJ documented numerous earlier assaults, detentions, and confiscations. Mubarak forces have attacked the very breadth of global journalism: Their targets have included Egyptians and other Arab journalists, Russian and U.S. reporters, Europeans and South Americans.

          "The attacks on journalists, which began last week, have now intensified to levels unseen in Egypt's modern history," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "We are concerned for the safety of our colleagues, and we're alarmed at the prospect of these witnesses being sidelined at this crucial moment in Egyptian history."

          Government officials, pro-government journalists, and commentators loyal to Mubarak have for the past two days been engaged in a systematic campaign to present foreigners, and particularly foreign journalists, as spies. CPJ has documented at least seven instances on state-owned television or on private stations owned by businessmen loyal to Mubarak in which individuals described elaborate foreign plots to destabilize Egypt that centered on foreign provocateurs, including journalists. In several instances, they were described as "Israeli spies." In one instance, a woman whose face was obscured "confessed" to having been trained by "Americans and Israelis." She went on to say that the alleged training took place in Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based.

          Here is a round-up of attacks on the press:

          • The Washington Post told CPJ that the paper's Cairo bureau chief, Leila Fadel, and Linda Davidson, a photographer, were among a number of journalists detained this morning. Their unidentified driver and translator were also picked up, and the driver was beaten. Fadel and Davidson were freed late today, but the status of the driver and translator was unclear.
          • Corban Costa of Brazilian Radio Nacional and cameraman Gilvan Rocha of TV Brasil were detained, blindfolded, and had their passports and equipment seized, according to Brazilian news accounts. The two were reportedly held overnight without water in a windowless room in a Cairo police station. An officer forced the reporters to sign a statement in Arabic saying they would immediately leave Egypt for Brazil, reports said. "We had to trust what he said, and sign the document, " Corban said. They said they will be sent back to Brazil on Friday.
          • Polish state television TVP said that five journalists working in two crews--Krzysztof Kołosionek and Piotr Bugalski; and Michał Jankowski, Piotr Górecki, and Paweł Rolak--were detained in Cairo and that one of their cameras was smashed. Krzysztof Kołosionek and Piotr Bugalski were released, according to Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
          • The New York Times reported today that two of its reporters were released after they were detained overnight in Cairo.
          • Canadian Globe and Mail journalist Sonia Verma tweeted today that she was being taken "into some kind of custody." She later reported that she was held by the military for three hours.
          • CNN-IBN reported that video journalist Rajesh Bharadwajm was "taken away" from Tahrir Square by military forces. Bharadwajm's status was not immediately clear.
          • Maurice Sarfatti, who writes under the name Serge Dumont, was arrested twice within the past day, according to a statement from the daily Le Soir. The Belgian journalist, who was freed late today, works for a number of European publications.
          • A German freelance journalist was briefly detained between Alexandria and Cairo, Frank-Dieter Freiling, a senior vice president of ZDF-German Television, told CPJ in an e-mail.
          • Three Romanian TV crews were detained Wednesday and Thursday in Cairo, according to Antena 3 producer Vlad Petreanu, who e-mailed CPJ with details. On Wednesday, Adelin Petrisor, a reporter for the state-owned broadcaster TVR, and an unnamed cameraman were detained by Cairo police, searched, and later released. On Thursday, police detained Realitatea TV reporter Cristian Zarescu and his unidentified cameraman. Authorities confiscated their tapes before releasing them. Also on Thursday, Antena 3 reporter Carmen Avram and cameraman Cristian Tamas, were stopped by police. The men sent a text message late today saying they were being held for questioning.

          • Mubarak supporters stormed Cairo's Hilton Hotel searching for journalists, Al-Jazeera reported today. Journalists inside the hotel posted a Tumblr entry that said: "About 20 foreign journalists are currently holed up." BBC Foreign Editor Jon Williams tweeted: "Egyptian security seize BBC equipment at Cairo Hilton in attempt to stop us broadcasting."

          • Rachel Beth Anderson, a freelance videographer in Cairo, tweeted that "cameras & phones disappearing from journo hotel rooms in the Semiramis hotel! We're locked inside by staff who says its orders from outside."
          • Fox News reported that correspondent Greg Palkot and producer Olaf Wiig were hospitalized after being beaten by protesters in Cairo.
          • The Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported that its correspondent in Egypt, Bert Sundström, is recovering from stab wounds to the stomach in a Cairo hospital. STV said it lost touch with Sundström as he was reporting in Tahrir Square and when they finally reached him on his cell phone, a man answered and told the station that he had been "taken by the military." STV's Ingrid Thörnqvist told the online Aftonbladet: "He is seriously injured, but the condition is stable."

          • The Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini said its correspondent in Cairo, Petros Papaconstantino, was "briefly hospitalized with a stab wound to the leg" after an attack by Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square, according to The Associated Press. The reporter wrote on Kathimerini's site: "I was spotted by Mubarak supporters. They ... beat me with batons on the head and stabbed me lightly in the leg. Some soldiers intervened, but Mubarak's supporters took everything I had on me in front of the soldiers." AP also reported that an unidentified Greek newspaper photographer was punched in the face.
          • The Associated Press reported that CBS reporter Mark Strassman and a camera operator were attacked while trying to photograph people throwing rocks. Strassman told AP that demonstrators punched and sprayed with Mace his camera operator, whom he did not identify. "As soon as one started, it was like blood in the water," he said.
          • Dima Salem, a reporter for Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television, was attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters who took her cameraman's equipment and tried to beat her, the station said. Witnesses helped them escape, Al-Arabiya reported on the air.
          • Two Al-Jazeera English journalists were attacked by Mubarak supporters, the Qatar-based satellite station reported on the air. Three other network reporters were detained in Cairo, the station reported. No names were given.
          • Alfred Yaghobzadeh, a French photographer working for SIPA Press agency, was beaten while covering street protests, according to AP, which moved a photo of the journalist being aided by witnesses.
          • The AP reported that men wielding sticks disrupted operations and seized satellite equipment at one of its locations.
          • A BBC producer tweeted that Margaret Evans, a CBC reporter, was forced to hand over recording equipment to military forces in Tahrir Square.
          • Margaret Warner, a senior correspondent for the U.S.-based "PBS Newshour," had her camera confiscated. Warner tweeted today: "PBS NewsHour arrives Cairo. Camera gear inspected & confiscated. 2 hours & we're still haggling."

          • At least four Spanish journalists were attacked in Cairo, according to news reports. Joan Roura, a correspondent for TV3, a Catalan public television station, was attacked by men who tried to steal his mobile phone while he was conducting a live broadcast for the 24 hours news channel. Assaults were also reported against Sal Emergui, a correspondent for Catalan radio RAC1; Gemma Saura, a correspondent for the newspaper La Vanguardia; and Mikel Ayestaran, a correspondent for the newspaper Vocento/ABC.
          • Several Turkish journalists were attacked by Mubarak supporters, according to news reports. Cumali Önal of Cihan News Agency and Doğan Ertuğrul of the Turkish Star Daily were attacked and beaten by pro-Mubarak supporters on Wednesday. Both were in stable condition today.
          • Men with knives seized Erol Candabakoğlu, a Turkish Fox TV reporter, along with his unidentified cameraman and driver on Wednesday while they were filming in the Boulaq neighborhood of Cairo, according to news reports. The Turkish news agency Anatolia reported that Egyptian police later freed them.
          • Metin Turan, a reporter for the Turkish state-run TRT channel, was assaulted today and beaten by Mubarak supporters, who seized his camera, money, and cell phone, according to the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman. The reporter escaped and sought refuge at the Turkish Embassy; embassy officials told the paper they would take Turan to the hospital because he suffered from wounds and bruises. Isa Simsek, a photographer for Today's Zaman, was also assaulted today by a Mubarak supporter, according to news reports.
          • Popular Egyptian blogger Mahmoud (aka "Sandmonkey") tweeted: "I was ambushed & beaten by the police, my phone confiscated, my car ripped apar& supplies taken." He said he was briefly detained.
          • Wally Nell, a photographer for the California-based Zuma Press agency, was wounded under the 6th October Bridge at the Corniche on the Nile in downtown Cairo, according to accounts posted by family and friends. Those accounts described Zell as having suffered multiple pellet wounds after being fired upon by police.
          • At least four contributors to Demotix, a U.K.-based citizen journalism website and photo agency, were also attacked, Turi Munthe, Demotix CEO, told CPJ in an e-mail. The four included Nour El Refai and Mohamed Elmaymony.

          • The British-based communications company Vodafone accused the Egyptian government of hijacking its text messaging services and sending out text messages supportive of Mubarak, according to news reports.
          • Multiple journalists for state-owned or government-aligned media have resigned or have refused to work after the government put pressure on them to sanitize the news or to not report on violence against demonstrators, several CPJ sources said. Shahira Amin, an anchor on the state-owned Nile TV channel, said on the air on another channel: "I refuse to be a hypocrite. I feel liberated."

          EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this alert was extensively updated to include numerous additional attacks and to provide context.

          February 3, 2011 12:59 PM ET

          • 1 vote
          Reply#4 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 8:13 PM EST

          I came upon a really ineresting blog giving an actual Egyptian's views on Pres. Obama speech, the US, the Muslim brotherhood and 9/11. It is verrry interesting and insightful. http://liberalwall.blogspot.com/ I ended up exploring the website for over an hour, it is so informative!!

            Reply#5 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 9:19 PM EST

            Always appreciate new info to check out.

            • 1 vote
            #5.1 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 9:26 PM EST
            Reply

            It's a well used Israeli tactic, round up and savagely beat the Journalists, seize their cameras, harass the camera crews and when they are gone then the secret police come in large numbers and the real blood shed begins all off camera. Omar Suleiman is simply following those same well used Israeli tactics on his own people.

            I laughed when I read the New York Zionist rag propaganda paper's journalists were briefly held, all they need have done was mentioned they were operating for Israel and their Egyptian police handlers would have immediately released them.

            This beat down of the Journalists and Camera crews is no different than the same such actions inside Germany by the Brown shirt nationalist socialist movement pre-WW2 and has all the earmarks of Israel directly working with Suleiman to crush the Egyptian people.

            • 1 vote
            Reply#6 - Fri Feb 4, 2011 11:46 PM EST

            Wow what would the world do without Jews and Israelis?

            There would be no scapegoats, can't blame the Bhuddists for wars because they haven't started one in the hundreds of years that they have been in existence.

            Can't blame the hindu's, they have had a nuke for a decade and McDonald's corporation HQ's hasn't been turned to dust, even though they have killed billions of Cows.

            Obviously we can't blame the Muslims because there are squatters rules and they were in Israel for almost a thousand years before some Jew lover told them they couldn't stay in europe anymore after they caused WWII.

            Christians can't be blamed because it was the Jews that killed Christ.

            Pagans can't be blamed because there are only a few hundred thousand left in the world.

            Hey I got a great Idea lets round up all the Jews and we will put them in an area with a lot of barbed wire and soap. Damn wait I think when I was a lad I learned that some guy with a bad toupee and crazy mustache tried that and it didn't do much good for his country in the long run...

            I think it might be better if we take just the people that are intolerant of others and beat them within an inch of their life. Then they might learn to get along with others and we can finally start working on how to go and find some Aliens to blame humanities problems on. Too bad that is still at least a hundred years away. Maybe closer if A. Smith-1451820, Osama Bin Ladin and the KKK are locked up where they can't see the sun until they turn into dust.

            • 1 vote
            Reply#7 - Sun Feb 6, 2011 2:44 PM EST
            You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
            As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.