Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on Egypt to respect freedom of the press, only days after Egyptian security forces raided the Cairo office of independent news outlet Mada Masr and detained staff members, who have now been released.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “As part of our long-standing strategic partnership with Egypt, we continue to raise the fundamental importance of respect for human rights, universal freedoms and the need for a robust civil society. We call on the Egyptian government to respect freedom of the press and to release journalists detained in a raid last weekend.”

Click here to see our full interview with Mada Masr reporter and longtime Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous.