Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)

Both private and governmental media outlets in Egypt have, over the past couple of days, found themselves to be the target of an aggressive and organised campaign of intimidation aimed at curbing and controlling their coverage of the 30 June protests gripping the country.

Mohamed Heiza Bazid, a journalist for the Welad El Balad Foundation, was kidnapped and tortured while covering clashes between supporters and opponents to the Muslim Brotherhood on 26 June 2013. Protests have been erupting anew in Egypt as the anniversary of President Mohamed Morsi’s one year in office draws near.

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Mohamed Morsi’s rule, 20 Egyptian rights organisations call on Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to respect the principles of the democratic process that brought them to power in the first place.