British journalist records horrific Cairo police ordeal

A London-born journalist based in Cairo was yesterday beaten up by police as he reported on the continuing civil unrest and protests in the Egyptian capital. Jack Shenker, writing for the Guardian, managed to use his dictaphone to record his ordeal after he and 43 others were rounded up and driven out of the city in a truck.
 
Shenker was reporting on the anti-Mubarak riots in the centre of Cairo when a number of young men, dressed in ordinary clothes, came running in his direction.

"I assumed them to be protesters also fleeing the police charge behind them," said Shenker. "Yet as two of them reached me I was punched by both simultaneously and thrown to the ground, before being hauled back up by the scruff of the neck and dragged towards the police lines."
 
He tried to protest to a high-ranking uniformed officer that he was an international journalist, but the officer responded by "walking over and punching me twice, saying in Arabic, 'Fuck you and fuck Britain'."
 
Shenker was put into a room with other protesters and forced to face a wall while his mobile and wallet were removed. The police then dragged him and the others, many of them severely wounded, into a truck.
 
"Dozens of protesters were already packed in and crouched in the darkness – the trucks have barely any windows... There were 44 of us inside the tiny space. With barely room to move, the temperature rose quickly and several people fainted."
 
Realising he still had his dictaphone on him, Shenker began to record what was happening around him. "It's completely pitch black in here," he said, "just the lights of the orange street lamps outside shining through the thick grates. They are illuminating people with blood on their face, bruises all over them, some [people] are curled up in the corner praying."
 
One of those in the truck was the son of the opposition dissident Ayman Nour - "something of a political celebrity and feted by Washington," according to Shenker.

The police were given instructions to release Nour Jnr because they didn't want to encourage further press coverage, but the young man refused to leave the truck, saying: "Either I leave with everyone else or I stay with everyone else."

Speculation among the protesters in the truck was rife. Some feared they were heading for the state security compound in the desert.

However, their ordeal came to an abrupt end when the truck pulled up and the doors opened. The first to get out were beaten by police but there were too many protesters for the officers to maintain control. "Suddenly the police have fallen back," Shenker recorded, "and now we are charging out of the truck... We are physically forcing our way out..."
 
The situation today remains tense in Cairo, with riots and protests breaking out despite President Mubarak having placed a ban on organised gatherings.

The Foreign Office was not aware of Shenker’s case when The First Post contacted their spokesman this afternoon. The official advice to travellers is to avoid political gatherings and demonstrations and to respect "any advice or instructions" from the local security authorities. Shenker’s account would suggest the latter is not foolproof. ·