The head of Egypt's Journalists Syndicate has insisted the organisation will continue to fight for press freedom after it came under fire for defending six journalists detained last month and charged with joining a "terrorist" group.
"What happens to one colleague affects us all, and may happen to others tomorrow," Khaled Elbalshy said in a statement on Sunday. "An infringement of one journalist's freedom is an infringement of everyone's freedom and a weakening of the safeguards protecting that freedom."
His comments came after the syndicate filed a complaint with Egypt's public prosecutor over allegations that the detained journalists, who work for the investigative website Matsadaash, had been tortured. Egyptian authorities denied the accusations, while pro-government commentators criticised the organisation for defending the journalists.
Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud and Abdallah Qadry were arrested on September 28 and 29 and have since appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, which handles national security cases. They have been ordered held in pretrial detention for 15 days pending investigations.
Prosecutors have accused the six of working for a media organisation tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt has officially designated a "terrorist" group, a designation the organisation strongly denies. The designation follows a 2013 coup against democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood member. Matsadaash co-founder Abdelrahman Mansour has rejected any link between the platform and the Muslim Brotherhood.
In his statement, Elbalshy said: "The fundamental principle governing all such matters, particularly when dealing with accused persons in general and vulnerable people in particular, remains that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty."
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), whose lawyers represent the six, said the journalists were initially held for five days without contact with their families or lawyers. After complaints, they appeared before prosecutors and were questioned in the presence of their lawyers and a syndicate representative. The EIPR said the journalists are held under Egypt's 2015 Counterterrorism Law, which allows custody before prosecution when "there is a risk of a terrorist crime and a necessity to confront that risk", though the rights group noted the prosecution only alleges the journalists published rumours or "false" reports.