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Egypt army shuts down TV stations
July 4, 2013, 4:54 am

The Egyptian armed forces on Wednesday deposed Morsi and suspended the country’s constitution. (Xinhua Images)

The Egyptian armed forces on Wednesday deposed Morsi and suspended the country’s constitution. (Xinhua Images)

Egypt’s military shut down several TV stations, including one operated by the Muslim Brotherhood, after President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by the army, media reported Thursday.

The offices of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian news channel were raided by security forces on Wednesday. At least five staff were detained, Karim El-Assiuti, a journalist, said. Four were later released, the Qatar-based broadcaster said.

The channel, Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr, was banned from broadcasting from a rally supporting Morsi in Cairo and its crew there was detained.

The Egyptian station of Al Jazeera started broadcasting after the 2011 revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Critics have accused it of being sympathetic to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Presenters and guests were reportedly arrested and correspondents interrupted during a live broadcast, Al Jazeera said.

Muslim Brotherhood-owned Egypt25 and two other Islamist-run stations, Al-Hafiz and Al-Nas, were also forced off air, according to media.

The Egyptian armed forces on Wednesday deposed Morsi and suspended the country’s constitution, Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said in a televised address to the nation.

He said the head of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, would lead the country during the transition period until an early presidential election is held.

 

Agencies