Epress.am News from Armenia
The wave of protests in Egypt continue. As a result of mass demonstrations over the past few days, government has changed hands and the situation has become extremely dangerous for foreign female journalists.
So much so that Reporters Without Borders has urged news organizations to stop sending female reporters to cover the demonstrations in Tahrir Square, after a French reporter, Caroline Sinz, became the latest female journalist to be sexually assaulted there, reports The Guardian on its live blog of the coverage on the Egypt protests.
Euronews quoted Sinz as saying: “We were hit, and then separated. Very few women, especially foreign, are in Tahrir Square. I was grabbed by several men and I suffered a sexual assault in front of everyone in full daylight. Other women journalists were physically attacked. It is a way to intimidate the press.”
The assault on Sinz came just hours after US-based Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy reported on Twitter that she was sexually and physically assaulted while being held inside the interior ministry in Cairo on Thursday morning.
The latest wave of protests has led to the worst violence since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February. More than 40 people have been killed.
Currently crowds are gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, for what is expected to be a massive protest against the military government.The protest, which has been dubbed “last chance Friday” comes after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) refused to postpone elections scheduled for Monday, reports The Guardian.
The army has appointed ex-Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri to form a new government after his predecessor resigned, state TV reported.
The protesters have criticized the appointment of Ganzouri, who headed Egypt’s government from 1996 to 1999 under Mubarak, the BBC reported.