Hossam el-Hamalawy
Thousands of Central Security Forces laid siege on the Press Syndicate, turning Downtown Cairo into a ghost town, as the Muslim Brothers demonstrated in solidarity with their detainees.
Journalists and activists tried with no success for hours to reach the syndicate. Only a handful managed to reach the syndicate, thanks for their early arrival prior to the siege.
I received the following statement:
Call for Solidarity with Howaida Taha
Wednesday 7 February 2007
9 a.m.
Heliopolis Court – Nozha
A court session has been scheduled for Ms. “Howaida Taha” from El Jazeera satellite channel at 9 a.m. at Heliopolis court (El Mahkama square).
Ms. Taha was arrested from Cairo airport when she was about to travel. State security prosecution interrogated her and kept her in custody for 2 days before releasing her on a bail of 10.000 Egyptian pounds. It is known that Ms. Taha was, before her arrest, preparing a number of programs and documentaries on torture in Egypt in general and in police stations in particular. In doing so she collected some of the torture incidents published on the internet as well as interviewed several organizations and individuals active against torture.
In defense of freedom of publication and expression as a basic human rights and in view of our belief in the role of the press and media in protecting human rights by exposing its violations, we call upon all human rights organizations and activists to express solidarity with Ms. Taha and attend the court sessions.
Signatories
Association for freedom of thought and belief
Arab network for human rights information
Egyptian association against torture
Nadim Center for rehabilitation of victims of violence
Hisham Mubarak Law Center
I’m receiving news that that workers have started a strike and a sit-in at the Fine Textile factory in Kafr el-Dawar, in a conflict with their government management over bonuses.
The sit-in started yesterday with the workers of the second shift (around 2pm), only to be joined by the night shift workers, and today’s morning shift workers. This means the entire factory is on strike now.
The total labor force of the factory is 14,000 workers. I don’t have information about the total number of workers occupying the factory now. I’ll post more updates later when I receive additional info.
The Kafr el-Dawar Fine Textile factory triggers so many memories for Egypt’s leftists and workers. This is the Nile Delta factory where Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser started his reign in 1952 by executing two Communist workers: Khamis and el-Baqari. This is the same factory that was stormed by the Interior Ministry’s Special Forces in 1984 and 1994 to break the workers’ strike using live ammunition, leading to casualties among the strikers and their families who flocked to the factory in solidarity.