By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: November 24, 2011
Egyptian court ordered the release of three American students. The students were arrested during their protests in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square. A prominent documentary filmmaker, Jehane Noujaim, was also arrested. The students had been during a semester-long study abroad program in the American University in Cairo.
However, that the students had been freed is unclear because there was no immediate confirmation. Interior Ministry officials said that the students just need to be processed through Egypt's court system.
The Egyptian-American journalist, Mona Eltahawy, who was arrested, was freed. However, she was so badly treated:
On her Twitter account, she wrote, “5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers.” She said the beating and assault stopped once she was transferred from the police to the military, though military interrogators kept her blindfolded for hours. (New York Times)Eltahawy's accusation, according to a military official in Cairo, Col. Islam Jaffar:
“She complained to me that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by Central Security Forces,” Mr. Jaffar said. “But what did she expect would happen? She was in the middle of the streets, in the midst of clashes, with no press card or form of ID. The press center had not given her permission to be in the streets as a journalist. The country is in a sensitive situation. We are under threat. She could be a spy for all we know.”The group's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator claimed:
“Filming is not a crime, and authorities must release Noujaim immediately,Tte military and the police must stop using physical violence and detention to silence or intimidate journalists.”
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