Earlier last week, both Khaled Al-Bulshi, head of the Freedoms Committee and Mahmood Kamel, the youngest and newest member of the Union of Journalist Council announced a sit-in to improve the conditions of their imprisoned fellow journalists. Kamel spoke to Correspondents to hear the reasons behind the sit-in, the expected results, and the potential response of the Egyptian state about such activities.

Why did the union organize a sit-in?

Earlier last week, both Khaled Al-Bulshi, head of the Freedoms Committee and Mahmood Kamel, the youngest and newest member of the Union of Journalist Council announced a sit-in to improve the conditions of their imprisoned fellow journalists. Kamel spoke to Correspondents to hear the reasons behind the sit-in, the expected results, and the potential response of the Egyptian state about such activities.

Why did the union organize a sit-in?

The reasons are many and connected to the slow death being suffered by journalists in extreme detainment conditions. Fellow journalists Hisham Jafar and Hosam Al-Saied were moved to the prison hospital because of these conditions, while the health condition of colleague Yousef Shaaban have extremely deteriorated in Burj Al-Arab prison.

Shaaban is suspected to have liver malfunction for not having been treated for Hepatitis C for more than 10 months. Although the prison doctor ordered tests, the prison administration has ignored these demands.

Fellow journalist Hani Salah, who has a non-cancerous tumor that needs to be removed, also urgently needs to be hospitalized for surgery. Moreover, the sit-in is also being organized to express solidarity with the fellow journalists held in Al-Akrab prison, who have started a hunger strike due to gross violations they have suffered. They are living in extremely difficult conditions without health care, which have prompted their families to file complaints to save their lives.

Does resorting to protest reflect a failure in the negotiation attempts talked about by several council members?

Not at all. Negotiation is one way to obtain the rights of those journalists and it does not contradict pressure, rather the two can be complimentary, especially since the rights we are struggling for are legitimate.

Was your sit-in positively received by the General Assembly?

The truth of the matter is, when my fellow Khaled Al-Bulshi and I announced the sit-in, dozens of journalists joined us and many parties and unions sent delegations to express solidarity with the cause. However, this response only represents a small fraction of the entire General Assembly.

Is this trend in the General Assembly connected to a desire to suppress freedoms, or is it connected to the antagonism with the Muslim Brotherhood?

Unfortunately, many assembly members are conservative in nature and do not view the union as a platform to demand freedoms. In addition, many of them justify some of the cases with the journalist’s affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood.

*The union included the issues of freedom and economic and social rights in its schedule for the General Assembly meeting held on March 4. What are your expectations?

I do not expect the session to be sufficient in the first place, since the assembly has gradually eroded and many journalists were dismissed from their union. Therefore, many of them have lost faith in the assembly and its effectiveness.

Who is responsible for this erosion?

Part of the responsibility lies in the current and previous union councils and the other part lies in the assembly itself. The assembly members do not practice their legal rights in following the performance of councils, withdrawing trust, and guaranteeing accountability and many other rights and mechanisms stated in the law and in the assembly’s charter.

Are the state authorities responsive to your demands?

The authorities in fact have shown responsiveness. For example, fellow Yousef Shaaban was hospitalized for necessary tests, and fellow Hani Salah was taken to Al-Munil University Hospital where the necessary tests were made and he was promised to be returned to the hospital after a week to proceed with his treatment. Colleagues Hisham Jaffar and Hosam Al-Saied were granted visiting rights and they were visited by their wives. Moreover, state authorities have promised to keep constant connection between the Ministry of Interior and the Union Council to solve the problems of imprisoned journalists. In addition, a meeting between the Minister of Interior and delegation from the union seems possible.

The state authorities represented by the Ministry of Interior have previously offered numerous false promises to solve the problems of imprisoned journalists and the violations they are experiencing. Does this affect the credibility of the promises you received after your sit-in?

This has happened more than once, in fact. We staged the sit-in to express the level of our anger with these violations and stress that false promises will only increase the tensions within the General Assembly.

What about the crisis of Al- Akrab prison where dozens of journalists have launched a hunger strike?

 No promises were actually made to solve this crisis, which drove me and my fellow journalists to continue our sit in in order to move these journalists out of these inhuman conditions.

Some assembly members blame you for showing solidarity with journalists from the Muslim Brotherhood, while others accuse you of siding only with liberal and left wing journalists and not defending Muslim Brotherhood journalists. Which is more accurate?

This matter is actually confusing. The diversity of the general Assembly and binary opinions in it, always prompt sharp criticism. Therefore, a considerable number of assembly members accuse us of affiliation with the Brotherhood and others and accuse us of ignoring it and caring only for journalists from other backgrounds.

How can you get out of this fix?

Most of the time, we ignore these accusations and take care of journalists, regardless of their political and institutional affiliations.

How do you view the union’s invitation to Al-Sisi to sponsor the union’s 75^th anniversary on 31March, especially since this invitation have been criticized for coming at a time when journalists are being imprisoned?

The Union of Journalists is considered a state institution. Therefore, it is natural to have the president invited to attend its celebration. In turn, this invitation can bring forth some benefits like a potential pardon for some journalists, along with other economic and social benefits.

How do see the conditions of journalists under President al-Sisi?

I think it is one of the worst times on the level of general freedoms, not only for journalists, although the profession itself has been in constant regression since Sisi came to power and many news media outlets have been shut down.

In addition, writers have been forbidden to publish some of their articles and some were put on trial, for literary texts like Ahmad Naji and others, but most of this can be linked to the assembly’s failure to defend its legal rights. To this affect, one must mention the incident when an issue of Al-Watan newspaper was destroyed. At that time we went to the newspaper’s editor-in-chief and asked him to file a complaint to the union, who stood idly by and did not give the case the necessary attention. This reflects the assembly’s power over the Union Council and not vise-versa, and this order can be extended to the entire social movement in the country.

When will you end your sit-in?

We will not end the sit-in, but we will have to suspend it and entrust the assembly with the subject under the condition for discussions as things evolve.

This is considered your first union experience, will you run in union elections again?

The experience was bitter and full of crises on both private and public levels, especially since I lost many career opportunities. The experience also largely affected my personal life. However, the most disappointing of all was that I depended largely on the General Assembly to create real change but I was surprised with the level of passivity and unwillingness to engage.