Egypt’s General Prosecution ordered the arrest of prominent journalist Khaled ElBalshy for “inciting the overthrow of the regime.”
The warrant was issued based on ElBalshy being a “blogger” and not an officially registered journalist in the Press Syndicate, rights lawyer Gamal Eid told Egyptian Streets. For this, the prosecution may hold the arrest.
“There is a focus from authorities to get revenge on journalists,” Eid stated.
The Interior Minister’s assistant for legal affairs had filed a complaint against ElBalshy, accusing him of “calling for protests, disrupting public peace, and insulting the Ministry of Interior and its police forces.”
According to Al-Bedaiah newspaper, whose Editor-in-Chief is ElBalshy, the journalist had not received the arrest warrant himself; rather, it was sent to his home in the Mansoura governorate.
ElBalshy heads the freedoms committee at the Press Syndicate.
Currently, there are 57 journalists behind bars in Egypt, according to the Arabic Network For Human Rights Information.
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[…] arrest order was issued by prosecutors on Monday against ElBalshy, who is also the editor of Al-Bedaiah newspaper, […]