12 December 2012
Egyptian journalist succumbs to injuries
Crossfire
An Egyptian journalist who was injured while covering clashes at the presidential palace last week has died in hospital after spending a week in a coma.
El-Hosseiny Abou-Deif, who worked for the Al-Fagr newspaper was shot in the head with a rubber bullet last Wednesday while covering the violence.
According to reports he was stood two metres away from the clashes and had his camera confiscated as events unfolded.
The clashes occurred after the Muslim Brotherhood asked members to march to the presidential palace to defend legitimacy while protestors held a sit-in to protest President Morsis recent decisions. The ensuing violence left at least eight people dead, and over 640 injured. Members of the press syndicate council have blamed Freedom and Justice Party members for Abou-Deifs death, while the journalists brother, Salem Abou-Deif said that the attack on his brother was deliberate.
"During the clashes a signal was given to people to go and attack El-Hosseiny using a laser," he said. The Doha Centre for Media Freedom expressed their condolences to El-Hosseinys family and called on the Egyptian authorities to launch a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. The centre repeated its calls for journalists to be protected while covering events around the world, and condemned the targeting of media workers.
Sources: DCMF, AFP
