CAIRO (AP) – Hundreds of Egyptian journalists rallied in Cairo on Wednesday in an escalating standoff with police, saying the media would go on strike next week if demands including the dismissal of the interior minister are not met.
On the steps outside their union headquarters, they chanted “Journalism is not a crime” while demanding Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar’s departure following a police raid on the premises and the arrest of two journalists.
The protests are the latest in a series of demonstrations against the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, which has banned virtually all protests and carried out a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent.
The government’s decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia last month brought protesters into the streets on two occasions, marking the largest show of public defiance of el-Sissi since he was elected in 2014.
Police severely restricted access to the site, banning non-union members from entry, as well as some residents and people who came on work errands to the surrounding area. Foreign journalists were allowed entry only after approval by several levels of officers, up to the rank of general.