Qutb Al-Arabi, Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood Journalists Committee, said that assaulting any journalist is totally unacceptable, noting that there must be meaningful dialogue and rational persuasion, not attacks, assaults or abuse. He further pointed out that freedom of the press should not be restrained in any way, while underscoring the need – on the other hand – for there to be responsible reporting committed to avoiding dissemination of rumours, sowing sedition and inciting violence or vandalism. “Those who commit such violations must be held accountable by law for all offences.”
Earlier, in the evening of August 8, Khaled Salah, editor of Al-Youm Al-Sabea newspaper, made a formal complaint in which he stated that people had tried to assault him as he entered Cairo’s Media City, accusing leaders of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) of inciting violence against him. For his part, Dr. Mohamed Beltagy, Secretary-General of the FJP in Cairo, rejected Khaled Salah’s accusations against the party. On his Facebook page, Beltagy said: “I will not change my position of condemning what happened to Khaled Salah; but I certainly also condemn the politicizing of the incident as is happening right now”.