New York, July 8, 2013--An Egyptian photographer working for a newspaper
affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood was killed today while covering
clashes in Cairo, according to news reports. Other local and international
journalists have also reported being targeted in the aftermath of last week's
ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi.
Freedom and Justice, the newspaper of the Muslim Brotherhood's
political party, reportedtoday that
its photographer, 26-year-old Ahmed Assem el-Senousy, had been shot by a sniper
after photographing security forces firing on pro-Morsi protesters. El-Senousy
had been covering clashes between
security forces and pro-Morsi protesters at the Republican Guards headquarters,
which have left at least 54 dead, according
to news reports.
"A sniper silenced Ahmed Assem el-Senousy, but his killing
has only amplified today's tragic events," said CPJ's Middle East and
North Africa Coordinator Sherif Mansour. "Egypt's path to peace and
freedom depends on authorities respecting the rule of law and basic human
rights for all people."
Abeer al-Saady, vice chairman of the Egyptian Journalists
Syndicate, told CPJ that his organization would be granting el-Senousy
an honorary membership and would be supporting his family with a pension.
The fatality comes after several days of anti-press attacks and
government censorship. A live broadcast van belonging to state television
was seized by
pro-Morsi protesters near Rabaa al-Adwiya in Nasr City on Saturday and used by
pro-Morsi channels to cover the protest, according to news reports.
At a press conference today, a military spokesman said last
week's governmentcensorship of
several pro-Morsi channels was based on its belief that they were inciting
violence, according to news reports. The officer also expelled Al-Jazeera
Arabic's Cairo director, Abdel Fateh Fayed, and an Al-Jazeera crew from the
press conference after other journalists in the room said the channel was biased in
favor of Morsi, the reports said.
Fayed had turned himself in for questioning yesterday after a
prosecutor accused him of disturbing the public order and threatening national
security, according to news reports. No
evidence was cited to support the allegations. On Saturday, the office director
for Al-Jazeera Mubashir, the network's Egypt affiliate, was released on bail of
10,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately US$1,400) after being arrested on July 3.
A number of Al-Jazeera journalists were reported to
have resigned in recent days amid disagreements over the station's political
perspective in covering the unrest.
International journalists have also come under threat. The BBC's
Jeremy Bowen was hit in the head by birdshot fired by Egyptian security forces
as he covered pro-Morsi protests on July 5, according to news reports. On the
same day, the military cut off a live broadcast from
CNN's Ben Wedeman in Tahrir Square. After Morsi opponents accused CNN of bias,
Wedeman tweeted yesterday
that Tahrir was no longer safe for the CNN crew.
Other international journalists, including Ed Ou from
Getty and Matt Cassel of
Al-Jazeera English, have said on Twitter that said Tahrir Square was not safe
for foreigners. In the press conference today, the military warned
non-Egyptians to stay away from the protests.
A German TV crew led by Dirk Emmerich was detained for seven
hours today by security forces while covering the clashes outside the
Republican Guards headquarters, according to news reports citing
Emmerich's Twitter feed.
In the past two weeks, two journalists and a student have been
killed while documenting protests and clashes between supporters and opponents
of Morsi. Prior to these deaths, only four journalists had been killed in Egypt since 1992, according to
CPJ research.
watch the video
watch the video
The
grainy film captures the soldier as he shoots from his vantage point on top of
the yellow stone building.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10170307/Ahmed-Assem-the-Egyptian-photographer-who-chronicled-his-own-death.html
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