“The Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom organization, is writing to express its concern about the climate for press freedom in Egypt and to follow up on meetings we had last month with several high-level officials in your administration,” the letter, issued on Monday, said.
In February, CPJ staff met with Egyptian Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat, Minister of Transitional Justice Ibrahim al-Henaidi, Assistant Minister of Interior for Human Rights Abu Bakr Abdel Karim and Assistant Minister of Justice for Human Rights Affairs Medhat Bassiouni, according to the letter.
CPJ was assured that the new Egyptian constitution protects press freedom and that no journalists are jailed, according to the letter.
Ten more journalists have been killed since 2011, six of whom since the protests that ousted former President Mohamed Morsi, according to the letter.
The CPJ, the letter added, wants to discuss the lack of press freedoms with the Egyptian president to ensure that journalists are not imprisoned for doing their job as well as to follow up with Barakat to visit the prisons where journalists are being held.
The letter added that the CPJ will plan to follow up with a formal request for a meeting with the CPJ board of directors and staff members while reaching out to the new parliament once it is elected.
The CPJ is an independent and non-profit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide.
