The Journalists Syndicate accused the Interior Ministry in a statement Monday of circulating rumors and lies regarding the arrest of journalists from its headquarters on Sunday.
Contrary to the ministry's account of events published in a statement on Sunday, the syndicate denied that the ministry coordinated with it prior to storming the building to arrest two journalists, describing the incident as an unprecedented crime.
What happened is a "full-fledged, unprecedented crime against the syndicate that violated the law and the Constitution", said the syndicate's statement, adding that the syndicate was stormed by 40 armed policemen in an attempt to intimidate journalists.
A policeman punched one of the syndicate's private security personnel in the eye after the security guard attempted to prevent them from storming the building, the syndicate's statement said.
"All this refutes the ministry's claim that it notified the syndicate before storming its headquarters," the statement went on.
The two arrested journalists had come to the headquarters the day before the incident took place, looking to discuss with a public prosecutor how to legally turn themselves in to the prosecution — rather than the police — in accordance with the arrest warrants issued against them, the Journalists Syndicate said.
The statement called on the Interior Ministry to admit the truth and to stop circulating false information and lies regarding the crime it committed "in broad daylight, in front of a large number of syndicate members".
The statement mentioned that a claim was filed with the top prosecutor's office against the incident.
Yehia Qalash, the head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, has called for the resignation of Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar following the incident.
At a press conference held outside the syndicate offices on Monday morning, Qalash said the body's council will hold a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday to investigate the arrests, in what some members have described as a "raid".
The arrested journalists were Amr Badr, editor-in-chief of yanair.net, and a journalist working for the same news website named Mahmoud al-Sakka.
The arrests come as a part of a broader police crackdown on journalists that began on April 25, when dozens of Central Security Forces vehicles surrounded the syndicate building to prevent anti-government protests taking place outside. According to Khaled al-Balshy, the syndicate's undersecretary, 46 journalists were arrested that day.
The protests on April 25 were called in response to the transfer of two Red Sea islands from Egyptian to Saudi Arabian sovereignty in a deal signed between the two nations on April 8. Political activists and opposition figures had been calling for large-scale anti-government protests since the deal was announced, including one vocal demonstration outside the syndicate headquarters on April 15.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
