After raid, Egypt journalists call for heads to roll

Hundreds of Egyptian journalists have demanded the firing of the interior minister in a raucous meeting at the Journalists’ Syndicate, after an unprecedented police raid to arrest two reporters.

Police cordoned off streets leading to the syndicate headquarters in downtown Cairo but allowed members to gather in and around the building for their general assembly, where they chanted “the interior ministry are thugs.”

Hundreds of reporters stood outside the syndicate headquarters, yelling: “Hold your head high, you’re a journalist.”

The head of the Egyptian journalists' union, Yahiya Kallash, center, speaks next to members of the association during an emergency general assembly on May 4, 2016, at their headquarters in Cairo. (AFP/KHALED DESOUKI) — The head of the Egyptian journalists’ union, Yahiya Kallash, center, speaks next to members of the association during an emergency general assembly on May 4, 2016, at their headquarters in Cairo. (AFP/KHALED DESOUKI)

Inside, hundreds who packed a conference room roared their approval as an official read out a statement demanding President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi apologize and Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar be sacked.

The statement also demanded the release of jailed reporters.

— AFP