Detained journalists in Egypt released

Nine local photojournalists and one American freelance journalist, James Buck, were released from custody Friday, a day after they were arrested for documenting last week’s wage and bread riots, The Media Line reported Sunday.

Workers at a state-owned textile factory began the strike, demanding better wages. Soon the strike erupted into riots as police clashed with protestors. Twp people ultimately were killed and more than 100 wounded with 300 demonstrators arrested.

Last week’s detentions underscore the difficulties faced by the Egyptian media in documenting large, public demonstrations. In addition, even non-journalists were prevented from viewing or attending the demonstrations: 25 academics were detained for several hours and prevented from making the trip to Al-Mahalla Al-Kubra to show their solidarity with the workers.

“These events exposed the police-dominated and suppressive nature of the Mubarak regime,” said Gamal Fahmy, editor of the opposition weekly Al-Arabi. “They don’t want the pictures of what’s happening there to be shown. Often journalists face problems from parties that don’t want the truth to come to light.”

For the full article, click here.