Four journalists have been killed in violent clashes which swept Egypt on Wednesday, with a number of the press core suffering serious injuries in the clashes. At least 238 civilians died in total as security forces brutally broke up pro-Morsi rallies.
Egypt has been swept by horrific street violence, showers of
gunfire, blazing fires and tear gas as relentless clashes have
shaken cities in government attempts to break up the
demonstrations.
Among the 238 protesters killed were children, including the
17-year old daughter of a Muslim Brotherhood official. Police
stations were torched or stormed by pro-Morsi groups amid the
ruthless government suppression.
The violence also took the lives of Sky News cameraman Mick Deane
and Dubai-based XPRESS journalist Habeeba Abdelaziz. Both had
been covering the pro-Morsi protests in Egypt’s capital which
security forces began to ‘disperse’ earlier in the day.
Deane, 61, was shot as he was documenting the turmoil in Cairo.
Despite receiving medical treatment for his injuries he died
shortly afterwards, according to a statement from Sky.
“He was an astonishingly good cameraman, took some brilliant
pictures,” said John Ryley, head of Sky News.
Habeeba Abdelaziz was a 26 year old Egyptian reporter from Dubai,
who worked for XPRESS – a ‘sister’ publication to the country’s
Gulf News.
“It’s hard to believe she’s gone. She was passionate about her
work and had a promising career ahead,” XPRESS Deputy
Editor Mazhar Farooqui told Gulf News, commenting that the entire
team was in a state of shock.
Abdelaziz had been covering protests near Cairo’s Rabaa
al-Adawiya Mosque, which has been the site of one of the largest
protests for over a month, and a subsequently heavy-handed
crackdown by governmental security forces. They reclaimed the
area late on Wednesday.
The third journalist killed was Egyptian Ahmed Abdel Gawad of Al Akhbar newspaper. He died while covering the clashes at Rabaah al-Adawiya. The Egyptian Press Syndicate, a journalist union, confirmed Gawad's death, but did not provide any details.
The fourth reporter to have been confirmed killed is
photojournalist Mosab El-Shami Rassd of the news website (RNN),
an alternative pro-Islamist media network, Ahram online reports.
The agency wrote that he “was killed by the hand of betrayal
while covering the Rabaa massacre at the hands of those who
executed the coup,” wrote the network on its Facebook page.
Reuters photojournalist Asmaa Waguih also suffered serious
injuries after being shot in the leg during protests. Shortly
afterwards, she was moved to the international medical center to
receive treatment. The Committee to Protect Journalists has
released a statement on the issue, saying that the group
condemned the killing of Sky News cameraman Mick Deane, prior to
hearing of the second death.
“We call on Egyptian authorities to issue clear orders to security forces to respect the right of journalists to work freely and safely while covering events in Cairo and the rest of the country,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney.
“The killing of Mick Deane underscores the urgent need for
such action and for all sides to show restraint and allow the
media to do their job. The authorities must investigate all
attacks on journalists and hold those responsible to
account,” he said.
Other journalist were also treated for wounds. An AP photographer
was hit in the back of the neck by two birdshot pellets, while Al
Jazeera claims its cameraman Mohammed al-Zaki was shot in the
arm. In addition, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders says that
Tarek Abbas — a reporter for local Al-Watan newspaper sustained
gunshot wounds to his leg and eye; and photographer Ahmad Najjar
was wounded in the arm.
Approximately a dozen other journalists were arrested or
threatened as they tried to document the mayhem: Reuters’ Tom
Finn tweeted his own arrest. Daily Beast reporter Mike Giglio
also said on Twitter he was arrested alongside two photographers
named Mahmoud Abou Zeid and Louis Jammes, stating they had been
beaten too.
A state of emergency was declared on Wednesday after Egyptian
security forces violently broke up the sit-in camps of Muslim
Brotherhood supporters in Cairo. Health Ministry officials say
that over 2000 were injured in the nationwide violence, alongside
the 278 who were killed including policemen.
“The dead are both from police and civilians,” said the
ministry's spokesman, Hamdi Abdel Karim.
However, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad claimed
that as many as 2,000 people had been killed and 10,000 injured
in the police operation.
Security forces succeeded in gaining control of the protest camps
by the end of the day after turning the capital into what
journalists called “a war zone”. A state of emergency has
been declared and curfew imposed in major cities including Cairo,
Alexandria and Suez. The curfew is set to last for the next month
– or until further notice.