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Alert

Television crews prevented from filming at polling stations

(RSF/IFEX) - Three television crews were prevented from covering the third round of voting in Egypt's parliamentary elections, which took place in nine provinces on 1 December 2005.

Police stopped an Al-Hurra crew from filming the surroundings of a polling station in El-Mansoura (120 km north of Cairo), which had received a lot of coverage in the first two rounds of voting. The crew, consisting of reporter Tarek El-Shamy and a cameraman, were finally allowed to work after getting permission from the authorities, but they were jeered and told their safety was not guaranteed.

In a separate case, an Al Jazeera crew was prevented from filming in Bandar-Kafr-El-Sheikh, north of the capital. Plainclothes agents confiscated their camera, destroyed their video cassette and threatened to break the camera if they tried to film again or take photos.

Also that day, security agents briefly detained a three-member CNBC Arabiya crew that tried to cover the elections in El-Zaqaziq (83 km east of Cairo). After they were released, stones were thrown at them by unidentified individuals. Reporter Rami Ibrahim and soundman Mahfouz Ali managed to avoid being hit but cameraman Mahdi El-Enany was slowed down by his camera and was badly hurt.