- EGYPT
- January 10, 2015
- 3 minutes read
Journalists For Reform Mourns Charlie Journalists
Journalists For Reform (JFR – affiliated with the anti-coup Egyptian opposition movement) condemns the attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris, France, in which 12 people were killed, including Ahmed Merabet, a Muslim policeman of Arab origin who was on duty defending the journalists’ right to ridicule his faith, just as Egyptian journalists earlier condemned the crime of a left-leaning journalist who insulted the great Prophet of Islam: Mohamed (Peace be upon him).
In a statement, JFR said: "Responding to caricatures with live bullets is as bad a crime and sin as that committed by the journalists who penned the caricatures to demonize Islam and insult its great Prophet. Freedom is the highest means of advocacy in Islam, according to scholars and philosophers of Islam. Certainly, spreading and preaching Islam requires freedom more than bullets. Mohamed, the Messenger of God, cannot be disgraced, but he suffered much more than Charlie Hebdo’s offending caricatures. Hundreds of years ago, the Prophet said it loud and clear: "Let me talk to the people, in peace". However, barriers and distortions, demonizing misinformation and support for despotism in our homelands are powerful bullet factories.
"As JFR condemns the killing of journalists in France, it reminds of the international community’s shameful silence with regard to the flagrant violations and brutal violence committed by the illegitimate coup’s security forces against journalists and media professionals in Egypt, killing many journalists on the streets, throwing others into dark dungeons – watched quietly by the whole world, since the July 3, 2013 terrorist coup, which now rules over Egypt with sheer force. This illegitimate coup regime is known to have so far murdered at least 10 journalists, arresting hundreds more and holding dozens as political prisoners in junta jails, while it terrorizes tens of thousands, and works with fervor everyday to muzzle the press and suppress freedom of expression in Egypt. It was ironic that that most repressive regime’s Foreign Minister rushed to condemn the Charlie Hebdo attack in France while its coup forces and supporters committed crimes that are in fact a thousand times more heinous and horrid."
