May 04, 2016•Update: May 08, 2016
By Khaled al-Jeyoushi
CAIRO
Hundreds of Egyptian journalists rallied outside the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate’s Cairo headquarters Wednesday to protest a police raid on the premises earlier this week during which two reporters were arrested.
On Sunday, police stormed the syndicate’s headquarters, arresting two journalists -- Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka -- for allegedly "inciting protests" and "plotting to overthrow the ruling regime".
Syndicate officials have decried the raid as a "blatant assault on journalists’ dignity" and have demanded the interior minister’s dismissal.
The ministry, for its part, said the arrest of the two journalists had been carried out in accordance with the law and in line with a warrant issued by Egypt’s prosecutor-general.
Police cordoned off the syndicate’s headquarters Wednesday as hundreds of journalists gathered to attend an emergency assembly convened to denounce the raid and arrests.
In a show of solidarity, a number of lawyers also joined the protesting journalists.
On Tuesday, in a move that coincided with World Press Freedom Day, the syndicate replaced the flag outside its headquarters with a black banner to protest the arrests.
In a statement, the European Union described Sunday’s raid as a "worrying development", which, it said, "continues a trend of restricting space for civil society and the freedom of expression" in Egypt.
