Journalist claims illegal detention, files complaint with prosecutor general

Al-Shorouk journalist Haitham Radwan filed a complaint at the prosecutor general’s office on Tuesday against Talbiya police station for his illegal detention.

On Thursday, Radwan was walking in the Giza district of Al-Haram, when he was stopped by a group of men in plainclothes, who accompanied him to a microbus without a number plate.

He was later questioned by a low-ranking police officer and two others, who confiscated his identification card, press card, and LE225 in his possession.

According to a statement published by the independently owned Al-Shorouk newspaper, Radwan was verbally insulted, beaten by officers, and kept for five hours in the police microbus, as they picked up eight others on their way to Talbiya station. Two of the nine were let go on arrival at the police station, while Radwan and six others were kept in detention for a further six hours, before he was freed with two others.

“I was randomly arrested by police, in violation of the Criminal Procedures Law. I should only be arrested if the police officer has permission from the prosecution, or if I’m caught red handed. Other than that, police only have the right to check my ID,” he explained to Mada Masr in a telephone call.

Radwan stressed that he wasn’t arrested because he was a journalist, but that police insulted him more when he showed them them his press card. When the officer discovered his identity, he declared, “We are the Interior Ministry,” according to the statement by Al-Shorouk.

Radwan told Mada Masr he has been working as a journalist since 2007, focusing in particular on news relating to the Interior Ministry, but that he doesn’t know why he was targeted in this instance.

“I don’t know why I was arrested, and I don’t know why I was freed. There are still five people remaining [in custody] from this random raid that no one knows anything about,” he explained.

Radwan’s identification states that he has a law degree, which puzzled the officers further. “I was asked, how come you are a law graduate and a journalist? I wanted to answer but they didn’t give me a chance,” he said.

Radwan told Mada Masr he would also be filing a complaint with the Interior Ministry, and would demand an investigation into the matter. Interior Ministry officials were not available to comment to Mada Masr on the incident.

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemned the incident in a statement on Monday, deeming it proof of the authorities persistence in trying to “criminalize journalism”.

“The ongoing violations against journalists essentially constitute an attack on citizens’ right to information. Also, the increase of these violations, as well as the detention of 60 journalists in Egyptian prisons, indicates a disregard for the constitution and international conventions that guarantee the protection of freedom of the press and its workers by security forces,” ANHRI said.

Journalists have repeatedly argued they have been targeted by the authorities, that their work has been misunderstood, and that they lack the protection to carry out their jobs safely in the current environment.

Three Al Jazeera English journalists, sentenced to three years in prison last month, were accused by the court of “impersonating journalists” for not being registered with the syndicate.