A number of journalists at Al-Wafd Daily’s online portal have started a sit-in inside their offices, in protest of the Wafd Party’s decision to dismiss the portal’s editor-in-chief Adel Sabry.
In a statement issued Saturday, the journalists said they gathered at the portal’s offices after learning of the decision and have threatened to escalate their sit-in to a hunger strike. They also held their union and the newspaper’s management responsible for any harm suffered by any journalist.
The statement added that all Al-Wafd portal employees are in dispute with the party's administration as a result of the editorial policy pursued by the portal.
Wafd Party head Al-Sayed al-Badawy had issued a decree Saturday dismissing the chief editors of both the newspaper and the online news portal.
Sources inside the party said that Badawy's decision came in response to the low sales of both the daily and weekly editions of the newspaper, as well as recent criticism of its editorial policy.
Edited translation from MENA
