Freedom and Justice Party Strongly Condemns Attacks Targeting Journalists and Media Figures

Freedom and Justice Party Strongly Condemns Attacks Targeting Journalists and Media Figures

Qutb Al-Arabi, Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood Journalists Committee, said that assaulting any journalist is totally unacceptable, noting that there must be meaningful dialogue and rational persuasion, not attacks, assaults or abuse.

He further pointed that freedom of the press should not be restrained in any way, while underscoring the need – on the other hand – for there to be responsible reporting committed to avoiding dissemination of rumors, sowing sedition and inciting violence or vandalism.

"Those who commit such violations must be held accountable by law for all offenses."

Earlier, on Wednesday evening, Khaled Salah, editor of Al-Youm Al-Sabea newspaper, made a formal complaint in which he stated that people had tried to assault him as he entered Cairo’s Media City, accusing leaders of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) of inciting violence against him.

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Beltagy, Secretary-General of the FJP in Cairo, rejected Khaled Salah’s accusations against the party.

On his Facebook page, Beltagy said: "I condemn the way he so liberally deals out charges and accusations just like Omar Suleiman, Bakri, Zind, Okasha and Abu-Hamid – a list that I genuinely hope will not be extended any time soon".

Beltagy explained that he took the initiative, as soon as he heard of the assault on Khaled Salah, and tried to call him, but Salah did not answer his phone.

Beltagy further said, "I will not change my position of condemning what happened to Khaled Salah; but I certainly also condemn the politicizing of the incident as is happening right now".

Mukhtar Ashri, Chairman of the FJP’s Legal Committee, said the journalist Khaled Salah’s insistence on his allegations that the Muslim Brotherhood and the FJP assaulted him – despite repeated rejection of all these accusations by Essam El-Erian, Mahmoud Ghozlan and Mahmoud Hussein – indicates that he “joined those undertaking a process of deliberate distortion, misinformation, false claims and slander in an attempt to vilify and discredit the Brotherhood, in addition to this being a desperate attempt to show himself off as a hero, even at the expense of others".