Egyptian security forces arrested Mamdouh El-Wali on 3 August 2014 allegedly because he believes that the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi on 30 June 2013 was a coup.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) denounces the arrest of the former head of Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate, Mamdouh El-Wali, because he believes that what took place on 30 June 2013 [the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi] was a coup.
Egyptian security forces arrested Mamdouh El-Wali, who also happens to be the former chairman of the board of Al-Ahram, on 3 August 2014. A decision to jail him for 15 days pending investigations over a financial corruption case at Al-Ahram was issued.
Security forces took action without informing the Journalists’ Syndicate or consulting it. In the same context, the liberties committee of Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate criticised El-Wali’s arrest and regarded it as malicious. It attributed the decision to arrest him to his political affiliations and his belief that Mohammed Morsi’s ouster was a coup.
“The arrest of journalists on account of their political affiliations is an unacceptable matter and clearly violates press freedom. Accusing the former head of the Journalists’ Syndicate, Mamdouh El-Wali, of such charges without consulting the syndicate itself is an attack on the latter and a deliberate ignorance of its role,” said ANHRI.
ANHRI calls on the Egyptian government to release Mamdouh El-Wali immediately, to investigate the authenticity of the charges pressed against him and to stop the discriminatory practices against journalists due to their political affiliations.
