Saturday saw tightened security measures at Abdeen Court, Cairo, shortly before the start of the trial of three leading members of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate accused of harboring wanted colleagues and circulating false news.
Central Security trucks were visible at the scene, with extra security guards stationed at all the gates of the court, located in downtown Cairo.
The court initially convened last Saturday for the trial of Syndicate Chief Yehia Qallash, Syndicate Secretary General Gamal Abdel Rahim and Khaled al-Balshy, chief of the syndicate’s freedoms committee.
However, the hearings were postponed in order to hear the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
Qallash, Rahim and Balshy were arrested in the wake of a stand-off between the syndicate and the Interior Ministry after the journalists Amr Badr and Mahmoud al-Sakka took refuge in the syndicate’s headquarters last month, fearing arrest by police.
Badr, the editor-in-chief of yanair.net, and his colleague Sakka were wanted on warrant for spreading false news and seeking to incite illegal protests, scheduled for April 25, against the maritime border agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia earlier that month.
They took shelter in the syndicate’s headquarters in downtown Cairo as police searched for them at their homes.
After police officers entered the syndicate to detain Badr and Sakka, the syndicate’s leadership made claims that the ministry had used excessive force in its “raid” on the journalist body’s HQ building in downtown Cairo.
Qallash, Rahim and Balshy were previously granted bail of LE10,000 each but decided to remain in custody.