Members and supporters of the international press freedom NGO Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) demonstrated outside the Egyptian embassy in Paris at midday today to express their outrage at the systematic use of violence against journalists in Egypt since February 2.
Chanting “The news is being killed” and “Egypt, stop violence against journalists,” the RSF activists brandished posters showing journalists who have been physically attacked.
“We have come to the Egyptian embassy to denounce the campaign of hate and violence against the international media in Egypt,” RSF secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. “The photos of journalists who have been injured, beaten, roughed up and arrested testify to an alarming situation of constant harassment designed to stifle news coverage and rid Cairo of the journalists.” Julliard added: “After censoring the Internet for several days, the authorities are now targeting journalists physically. This is unacceptable and must stop at once.”
Journalists have repeatedly been the targets of violence in a witch-hunt by President Hosni Mubarak’s supporters since February 2. The list of journalists who have been roughed up, arrested, beaten or assaulted by mobs keeps getting longer. RSF has already expressed its concern about the dangerous climate.
