Police attack and shut down Brotherhood paper

Crescent International

Dhu al-Qa'dah 19, 1434 2013-09-25

Daily News Analysis

by Crescent International

Unable to crush the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon completely, the military junta has attacked the party's newspaper. In a late night raid, all its equipment was stolen by the police as they ransacked the headquarters of Al-Hurra wa al-Adala (Freddom and Justice), the same name used by the party. The regime will only allow its own dogs to bark.

Cairo,

September 25, 2013, 18:59 EDT

The Egyptian military junta operating through a puppet regime as a front is dismantling all pillars of the Ikhwan al Muslimoon. While thousands of Brotherhood supporters have been killed including the children of leading figures, and most of its leaders are in jail, the regime also struck against its newspaper, Al-Hurriya wa al-Adala (Freedom and Justice) today.

The newspaper’s offices were raided late last night and early this morning and all its equipment—computers, disks, printers etc—was taken away by the police. It is clear that the regime wants to control all information flow to the Egyptian people. Almost all media outlets are either controlled by the regime or those that are not continue to parrot the regime’s version of events.

“We the journalists of the Freedom and Justice newspaper condemn the security forces for closing down the headquarters of the newspaper," the Brotherhood said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. Many journalists wrote for it without using their names for fear of being arrested. Even the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera does not reveal the identity of its reporters in Egypt. Al Jazeera’s offices have also been raided several times.

A source at the Cairo Security Department said the raid followed Monday's court ruling which banned the Brotherhood and ordered its funds seized. While the Brotherhood has appealed the ruling to a higher court, thugs in the security establishment were not constrained by such legal niceties. They make the rules.

The thugs in uniform continue to brutalize people. They have already killed more than 3,000 completely innocent people yet they have the gall to accuse the Brotherhood of inciting violence and terrorism. Opposition to the military regime and the coup are branded as “inciting violence”.

Such brutality has naturally had a serious effect on the operations of the Brotherhood but the movement continues to hold anti-coup rallies. This irks the regime immensely, hence the brutal crackdown. While the military junta claims to have the support of the people, it is unable to withstand any scrutiny or criticism of its barbaric practices.

The Brotherhood has existed for more than 80 years and it has faced extreme oppression for most of this time. Even if it is declared “illegal” and all its assets are frozen (stolen would be the correct word), it will continue to exist and resurface. This shows that the movement has deep roots in Egyptian society where it has rendered great social services to the people something successive regimes in Egypt have demonstrably failed.

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