Rights Group Calls For End Of Police Campaign Against Brotherhood Media

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) called on the Egyptian government to end its campaign against media professionals affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The statement by the pan-Arab rights advocate comes as the opposition group”s editor-in-chief of Ikhwanonline, Abdul Galil Al Sharnouby, had his home broken into on Wednesday morning.

The editor, who was not home at the time of the police raid, is now conducting a sit-in at the Journalist Syndicate in downtown Cairo in protest of the arrest order for him.

Al Sharnouby”s colleage, Khaled Hamza, managing editor for the Islamic organization”s English Web site Ikhwanweb, has been detained since February 20. HRinfo condemned the government for arresting and attempting to arrest journalists working with the banned opposition Brotherhood.

“The systematic police campaign against the media professionals of the Muslim Brotherhood aims to disable them informatively in regards to propaganda for their candidates running in local elections, which would be held by next 8th of April,” the rights group said in a press release.

“This campaign involves detaining scores of Brotherhood members without any legal proofs, just to prevent them of running into elections,” the statement continued.

Numerous activists, inside Egypt and out, have called for Hamza”s release, arguing that as a journalist he should not be detained for his duties.