Scores of the protestors at Tahrir Square on Friday 3 June attacked the crew and correspondent of the Coptic TV Channel CTV as they covered the demonstrations in Tahrir. Marianna Abdou, who is also a Watani reporter in her early thirties, was beaten up and jostled, as a rumour spread among the crowds that she was a Jew working for an Israeli channel. A policeman who fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd that was attacking her succeeded in doing so, but was himself attacked, his gun grabbed, and he had to be hospitalized for injuries. The CTV crew whisked Abdou into a cab that took her home, bruised and severely shaken.
The vice president of the board of directors of CTV, Illiya Bassili, condemned the attack, describing it as nothing but an act of thuggery.
Watani editor-in-chief Youssef Sidhom launched a campaign calling for the media to boycott demonstrations and sit-ins which, he said, have already achieved their objective. A national project is underway, he said, and any demands should be placed with the authorities concerned. The first priority of Egyptians today, he said, should be to get the wheels of production rolling and to set the stage for a democratic, stable State.
