CAIRO: The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has condemned repeated physical attacks against journalists by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted president Mohamed Morsi at protests, according to a press release on Monday.
The condemnation came in the wake of the beating of Youm7 journalist Mai Al-Shami Nov. 22 while she was covering a protest organized by the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy in Lebanon Square in Mohandiseen.
According to the press release, a protester approached Shami near Gameat Al Dewal Al Arabeya Street and demanded that she stop covering the demonstration. He then demanded to view what she had recorded on her camera, ANHRI said. He subsequently assaulted her, stole her camera, and fled the scene. She was then severely beaten by other demonstrators, who left her with a broken arm, the ANHRI statement said.
Shami’s beating was the latest in a long string of attacks against journalists since the military ousted Morsi in July. Between June 26 and Aug. 26, 2013, there have been 73 “violations” against journalists committed by Brotherhood supporters, 51 by Egyptian authorities, and 17 by unknown attackers, according to a recent ANHRI report entitled “Days of Ink and Blood,” according to the press release.
The Cairo-based human rights watchdog group called upon Egyptian authorities to provide protection for journalists, and called upon political factions refrain from involving journalists in the political disputes they are covering, the press release said.
