Karim Adel - Cairo
"The journalists are there but the press is not here !!!" Hisham Younis, treasurer of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate and editor of the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, commented on the absence of press coverage of the explosion of the Cairo Institute of Oncology.
This came in response to comments condemning the absence of the press in Egypt for the follow-up in the field for fear of arrests of a number of journalists in the recent period, which led to the delay of the media coverage of an important event occurred in the land of Egypt and in the heart of its capital pending the issuance of an official government statement.
Twenty people were killed and dozens were injured in a car explosion outside the National Cancer Institute. The Interior Ministry said the accident was caused by a car explosion as a result of a collision, before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the explosion was a terrorist act and vowed to confront "terrorism."
"The explosion of the Oncology Institute hits the Egyptian press with temporary muffling and the director of the institute is trying to rescue it using a wheel blower," Yunus said in a blog post on his social networking site Facebook.
He added: "The press is the explosion Ahh (meaning where the press coverage of the explosion)," condemning the crisis experienced by the press is as he sees "no longer read, heard and not visible."
A stinging attack
In turn, the former candidate for the union council, journalist Hazem Hosni, launched a scathing attack on the ongoing crackdown on press freedom in Egypt on the occasion of the incident.
He asked in a blog post on his social networking site Facebook, "Dehmeen, a journalist in the Dakar (in reference to non-fear), who is not waiting for the data and does his duty and covers the explosion of the palace in kind without a permit?"
He continued, "O my colleagues, I would like to cover the explosion of Manial and do not hold high because I do not know what to say?
Most of the comments came to warn him of the field coverage and ask him to wait for the statements, in a move that angered others who asked him to do his job.
"Media in Egypt has the highest degree of freedom and there is no censorship of the content or content being broadcast," said Hazem Hosni.
Press on vacation
In turn, the decision of the Freedoms Committee in the Journalists Syndicate Amr Badr on the absence of information immediately after the incident Manial, saying "the press on compulsory leave."
He said in a post on the social networking site Facebook after the incident, "the text of the hour and the information of one minute .. And Mfish official source said one information about the explosion of the palace in-kind except the head of the Institute of Oncology that the explosion is the result of the collision of two cars !!! Press on compulsory leave! "He said.
Badr revealed a call with a security command recently demanded that journalists be required to take a permit from the Ministry of Interior before carrying out their duties.
Badr said, "No press except with the permission of the Interior .. A disaster paid by a very many colleagues were detained hours while working in the street, even if they painted shops or traffic lights, and in some cases referred colleagues to the prosecution."
The decision of the Freedoms Committee that the Committee began to monitor the cases of journalists who have been detained recently against the background of the so-called "press coverage," stressing that the measure is illegal.
Egyptian and international human rights organizations speak of the absence of freedoms in Egypt since the military coup in July 2013, but the Egyptian authorities deny this, stressing the existence of full freedoms for journalists.