Canadians Among Foreign Journalists Detained, Harassed In Cairo

Two Canadian journalists covering the protests in Egypt were detained Thursday by members of the country’s army in the midst of what’s being called a “concerted campaign to intimidate” foreign journalists.

Patrick Martin and Sonia Verma of the Globe and Mail were released after being held for three hours. The incident came one day after two fellow Canadian journalists were surrounded by a mob that began hitting them.

After her release Verma tweeted: “What’s worse about being detained three hours by Egyptian army? Watching a four-year-old girl being detained with you even longer.”

They were never given a clear reason for their capture, and at first were told it was for their own safety, she said Thursday.

“Then we were told that we were being taken because there was a major secret operation that was being planned and that we would have to wait here,” Verma told CTV.

“This is not how you treat people you are trying to protect.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said government officials have contacted Egypt’s ambassador in Ottawa to express “grave concerns” about the targeting of foreign journalists.

“We are aware of others who have been targeted and intimidated in Cairo from RDI, CBC and CTV,” Cannon said.

“We are working to ensure their safety and provide consular services to them.”

A global coalition of free speech advocates called on Egypt to release all journalists and remove restrictions on media covering the protests.

The Egyptian government’s actions have kept the public from accessing and sharing “information about the demonstrations and the human rights abuses that have occurred” during the popular revolt, the coalition said in a statement released Thursday.

Tales of media interference in Egypt were pouring in via Twitter, including television networks CTV and TVA saying their camera equipment had been confiscated at an Egyptian hotel.

The U.S. State Department has condemned what it calls a “concerted campaign to intimidate” foreign journalists, who are trying to report on the massive civil uprising against longtime president Hosni Mubarak.

There were reported assaults Wednesday on journalists for CBS, the BBC, Danish TV2 News, Swiss television and Belgium’s Le Soir newspaper, among other organizations.

Two Associated Press correspondents were also roughed up.

Reporter Jean-Francois Lepine of Canada’s CBC all-French RDI network said that he and a cameraman were surrounded by a mob that began assaulting them, until they were rescued by the Egyptian army.

“Without them, we probably would have been beaten to death,” he said.

— With files from the Associated Press