Several reporters protested in front of the Journalists Syndicate in downtown Cairo on Sunday against the imprisonment of reporters for publishing certain stories.
The protesters also spoke out against death threats sent to their mobile phones.
Several media professionals have received death threats for attempting to uncover corruption cases — examples include Adel Hammouda, chief editor of Al-Fagr newspaper; Amr al-Leithy, writer and TV presenter; Ibrahim Eissa, chief editor of Al-Tahrir newspaper; and Wael al-Ibrashi, presenter of talk show Al-Haqiqa.
Syndicate board member Mohamed Abdel Qoddous, Hammouda, Leithy, Abdallah al-Sennawy and Saad Hagras were among the protesters. They chanted against the suppression of people's freedoms.
At a press conference in front of the syndicate, Abdel Qoddous said the protest is a gesture of solidarity with colleagues who have received death threats, and to reject restrictions on press freedom.
"Military rule is closely connected to all violations of public freedoms," he said.
Leithy and Hammouda said the threats they have received will not dissuade them from working to uncover the truth, but they refused to accuse any particular entity.
They also said that certain groups are seeking to destabilize Egypt, and that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is responsible for recent clashes, which began outside the cabinet building on Friday and have killed 10 people so far.
A group of passersby stopped to ask who issued the death threats but were ignored by the protesters, prompting them to chant, "Down with false media!" and "The people and the army are one hand!"
Some protesters attempted to persuade them that a handover of power to civilians would lead to stability, but this only enraged them further. They accused the media of "inciting violence, distorting the truth and featuring a bunch of thugs as revolutionaries."
The citizens then staged their own protest, accusing the protesting journalists of fueling crises to create news. They forced the journalists to move their protest inside the syndicate.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
