Deutsche Welle
Egyptian journalists call for removal of interior minister, vow to ban minister's name
Thousands of journalists in Egypt have demanded the removal of the
country's interior minister and have vowed to ban printing his name,
amid growing anger over the arrest of a pair of opposition journalists.
"We agreed to prohibit the publication of the interior minister's name and to publish only his picture in negative in a preliminary step towards banning all news of the Interior Ministry until the minister is dismissed," the journalists' union said following an emergency meeting.
On Sunday, two employees of the opposition website "Bawabet Yanayer," Mahmoud El Sakka and Amr Badr, were arrested by government authorities in an ongoing effort to squash dissent as anger at President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi grows.
The two journalists were arrested over allegations they had called for anti-government protests over el-Sissi's recent controversial decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Earlier this week, Egypt's prosecutor general imposed a media gag order on the investigation.
Facing off against police outside the union headquarters, hundreds of journalists rallied on the steps chanting "Journalism is not a crime!"
CALLS FOR MINISTER TO STEP DOWN
Union officials said they were calling for the ouster of Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar because "he is the main [person] responsible the crisis."
Earlier Wednesday, dozens of pro-government protestors reportedly gathered in front of the union's office to show their support for el-Sissi, some chanting "El-Sissi, we love you" and "Journalists are thugs."
*Photos courtesy of Tahsin Bakr courtesy of EPA, & REUTERS; Artwork courtesy of Carlos Latuff
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