The Minister of Information must resign, the group No to Military Censorship said yesterday during a protest at the state television building, Maspero.
Around 100 demonstrators took part in the march, which began outside the offices of the state-run daily Al-Akhbar. Chanting slogans against the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), the protesters followed part of the same route taken by the Coptic march, which was brutally crushed by the army last Sunday, leading to the deaths of 26 people.
One man held up a banner reading, “Cursed and cowardly, mouthpiece of the ruler.”
“Here are the liars, here are the liars,” the demonstrators chanted when they arrived outside Maspero. A small army and police presence watched on, and an individual inside the building filmed them.
In a statement handed out during the march, the group accused Minister of Information Osama Heikal of having “primary responsibility” for “prejudiced” media that “incited sectarian violence against peaceful demonstrators.”
State media have come under heavy criticism for their coverage of the Maspero violence, with accusations that it deliberately stoked anti-Christian sentiment by falsely announcing that three soldiers had been killed by Coptic protesters.
The minister of “misinformation” had “humiliated” the Egyptian army when state media broadcast an appeal for help to protect the army from peaceful protesters, because “it made the army – which is supposed to protect the country – appear as if it can’t protect itself,” said the group.
The group also accused Heikal of hiding videos showing army armored personnel carriers running over protesters, as well as soldiers firing into the crowd using live ammunition.
Olfat Abd Rabo, a journalist, said she had taken part in Sunday’s demonstration and had seen people being killed with live ammunition. “The disgusting media announced on TV that the army was coming under attack at the same time as the peaceful protesters were being crushed and killed. My sister called me and said, ‘Now what do you say? The Copts have killed Egyptians.’ I told her no. Don’t listen to the Egyptian media.”
Hala Fahmy, a journalist who works in Maspero, described the battle she and other colleagues have been waging against their bosses since 2009, when they demonstrated against then Minister of Information Anas al-Fiqqi, a senior member of the former ruling National Democratic Party.
Fahmy says she has since given testimony against Fiqqi, describing how she saw Maspero colleagues among the mob that attacked Tahrir protesters on 2 February 2011, during what is popularly known as the Battle of the Camel.
“When the thugs saw my ID they said, ‘No she’s with Anas al-Fiqqi, she’s with us.’ That’s what protected me [against them on 2 February],” Fahmy said.
Fahmy alleged that there was an “agreement” between the SCAF and the state media on 9 October, pointing to the appearance on air of a presenter who falsely said that three soldiers had been killed by “Coptic protesters.”
After leaving Maspero on Thursday, protesters marched to Talat Harb Square, where they joined a candlelit vigil of mourning for Sunday’s victims.
No to Military Censorship is calling for a mass protest against Heikal in Tahrir Square on 28 October, “because his continuing in his position means that the massacre is continuing,” it says.
