Journalist banned from festival goes on hunger strike

Egyptian journalist Josef Fekry, who reports for the Egyptian newspaper Al Gahd was banned from covering the The Alexandria Cinema Festiva by its organiser, Mamdouh el-Leithy. To protest against this decision, Josef Fekry started a hunger strike on Monday. The journalist said to Arabstoday: “I applied to cover the festival for al Gahd newspaper, but my request was declined because of personal disagreements with Mamdouh el-Leithy, the organiser of the festival, and the president of the festival Waleed Said. I appealed against this decision to the Minister of Culture. He approved my request and I went to the festival with a delegation of journalists." “When Mamdouh el-Leithy met me in the festival, he was rude to me and we had an argument. He therefore decided to prevent me from covering the festival, and ended my stay at the hotel. I had no other choice but to go on hunger strike.”