Press Release Regarding Attack on Muslim Brotherhood’s Ikhwanonline HQ Wednesday

While the Egyptian people prepare to commemorate the glorious January 25 Revolution, evil forces of darkness desperately endeavor to spoil the celebration, spreading chaos and terror across the country.

The office of ‘Ikhwanonline’ was brutally attacked by masked thugs who tried to break in Wednesday night. They torched the entrance, which resulted in a serious fire in a door mounting, producing thick black smoke and dangerous fumes and terrorizing journalists and media professionals working inside the office at the time. Fortunately colleagues survived the barbaric attack.

We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the police and firemen for attending the scene promptly and taking appropriate measures to secure the place. We thank them for these noble efforts, but we call upon the competent agencies to investigate the incident and arrest the masterminds of these criminal acts of arson and vandalization. This is not the first time that the office is attacked by unknown assailants.

‘Ikhwanonline’ affirms that it will persist in its performance of its professional media work no matter how dubious parties plot and scheme, and no matter what acts of arson and vandalism they commit against the website’s HQ. Those who have a noble mission will inevitably triumph over all thugs and pretenders.

We thank all colleagues who followed-up news of the attack on ‘Ikhwanonline’ – something that tells us Egyptian media still has the true spirit of the great Egyptian people.

Separately, Mohamed Abdul-Quddus, member of the Press Syndicate Council and Chairman of the union’s Committee on Liberties, condemned the attack on the headquarters of the Brotherhood’s Ikhwanonline website, Wednesday evening, with Molotov cocktail bombs.

"What happened is a crime of pure thuggery that cannot be attributed to the revolutionaries who indeed denounce all such acts of violence and vandalism, which cannot belong within the framework of freedom of opinion.

"The Journalists’ Syndicate has issued a statement condemning the attack, which represents a gross assault on freedom of opinion and an attempt to muzzle the mouths of media professionals."