Egyptian Journalists protest against Morsi The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate General Assembly on Sunday denounced President Mohammed Morsi\'s constitutional declaration. They said they would not participate in the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly .
\"We reject the president’s latest decisions,\" Gamal Fahmi, a member of the syndicate\'s executive board said to hundreds of journalists at the syndicate\'s downtown headquarters.
“Morsi’s decisions violate general freedoms, the rule of law and the judiciary’s independence,\" he said as fistfights erupted around him between supporters and opponents of the syndicate\'s head Mamdouh el-Wali, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fahmi also said the syndicate planned to stage a general strike if its proposals were not included in the constitution draft.
Fights broke out during the meeting between pro and anti-Muslim Brotherhood journalists.
Supporters of the Islamist group argued that not enough members were present to conduct the meeting. This sparked a heated debate on the technicalities of the meeting.
On Thursday, Morsi issued a decree making him immune from legal challenge against his decisions for a six-month period.
The decree also protects the Islamist-led Constituent Assembly,tasked with drafting the new constitution, and the Shura Council, the consultative house of parliament, from dissolution by court order.
The declaration was widely condemned by Morsi\'s political opponents, who deemed it as an \"attack on democracy.\"
After the meeting, journalists marched from the syndicate headquarters to Tahrir Square, in protest against the constitutional declaration, the president and the Muslim Brotherhood.