Egyptian journalists protest killing of colleagues

On Friday, dozens of reporters and photographers rallied in the capital Cairo, shouting slogans in front of the journalists' syndicate.

They also carried banners that read, "Stop killing journalists."

The journalists pushed the military-installed authorities to take measures to ensure their safety. They also demanded that security forces protect reporters while covering protests.

This came a week after 22-year-old reporter Mayada Ashraf was killed while covering clashes at a protest in the northern neighborhood of Ain Shams.

Journalists have reportedly been the target of Egyptian authorities as part of a broader crackdown on popular dissent over the past months.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since the country’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted on July 3, 2013.

In November, the military-backed authorities passed a law banning all but police-sanctioned protests. Since then, hundreds of anti-government protesters have been jailed for breaking the law.

Figures show Egypt’s military-backed government has jailed nearly 16,000 people over the past few months.

Anti-government demonstrators have been holding rallies almost on a daily basis, demanding that Morsi be reinstated.

Rights groups say at least 1,400 people have been killed in the violence since the ouster of Morsi, “most of them due to excessive force used by security forces.”

HK