Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt., Chairman, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State Department and Foreign Operations) on Arrests of and Assaults on Journalists in Egypt

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The thuggery that is being waged against Egyptian protestors and working journalists is deeply disturbing and deserves the world's condemnation. I applaud our country's leaders for their strong objections to this unfortunate turn in the Egyptian Government's handling of the crisis.

Attacking the press is the desperate and futile recourse of an autocratic regime under siege. It is a further assault on the people's right to know, to speak and to peaceably gather. For Egypt's future, and for President Mubarak's own good, the attacks on protestors and the assaults on and detention of journalists must end immediately.

There is much in the Mubarak era to his credit, including three decades of Egypt's peace with its neighbors. I hope President Mubarak will realize that this violence threatens to blot his legacy and that it will not prevent an early end of his rule, which now seems inevitable.

SOURCE Office of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy

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