Egypt one of most dangerous countries for journalists, says report

Egypt is the seventh most dangerous country in the world for journalists, claimed the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) on Monday.

Seven journalists were killed in Egypt in 2013, according to PEC’s annual survey.

The list is topped by Syria, where 17 journalists were killed in the past year, followed by Iraq with 16 journalists.

Pakistan, Philippines, India, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Colombia, Honduras, Libya, Russia, Haiti, Kenya, Mali and Paraguay were the other leaders in the list.

Egypt’s ranking indicates a "deterioration following the June 30 revolution that led to the ousting of former President Morsi,” PEC said in a statement.

"The year 2013 has been another deadly year for journalists because of the coverage of several armed conflicts. 129 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 28 countries, a decrease of 8 percent as compared to the figures of the PEC report 2012," the Geneva-based campaign said.

The statement added that 2013 witnessed an unprecedented year of kidnapping journalists.

"Among the 129 journalists killed this year around 90 (70 percent) were killed in conflict zones or in violent unrest. Three-quarters of them were intentionally targeted, others were killed mostly accidentally in bomb attacks," the statement continued.

While PEC said seven journalists were killed in Egypt this year — none of whom were named in the survey — independent counts indicated that four journalists have died in acts of violence since Morsi’s July ouster.

Photojournalist Ahmed Essam was killed while covering the Republican Guards massacre in July, while Habiba Abdel Aziz of The National and Mick Deane of Sky News were killed during the deadly dispersal of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in on August 14. Tamer Abdel Raouf, the head of the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper’s office in Beheira, was shot dead by the Armed Forces at a checkpoint later that same day.

The report comes one night a team of four journalists working for Al Jazeera English was arrested on suspicion of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, the Qatari-based television network reported.

Al Jazeera’s English-language bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy, correspondent Peter Greste, producer Baher Mohamed and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy were among those arrested, according to Al Jazeera’s statement.

The Ministry of Interior (MOI) released a statement calling the journalists "elements of the Muslim Brotherhood."

The National Security Apparatus accused the journalists of using two hotel rooms to hold meetings with other group members and "broadcast news that harms national security as well as spread false information for Al Jazeera without the approval of relevant authorities,” claimed the MOI.

In addition, Ahmed Khair, an anchor working for the private television network ONTv, was briefly detained on Monday by security forces after filming in a downtown Cairo district.

Egypt was also declared the ninth worst offender this year for jailing journalists in a list topped by Turkey, Iran and China, the Committee to Protect Journalists  (CPJ) reported ten days ago.

The CJP report said four journalists are still in custody, including Mahmoud Abdel Nabi from the Rassd News Network, Al Jazeera correspondents Mohamed Bader and Abdallah al-Shamy and freelance journalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid.

“Following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi on July 3 2013, the military-supported government detained dozens of local and international journalists, particularly those viewed as critical of the government or sympathetic to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Most were freed,” the report said.

Aboul Khier added that the detained journalists are facing charges of illegal gathering and protests, illegal arms possession and attacking police forces, “which are all wide and not specific charges.”

“These charges are completely wide, and there should be no justification for their arrests because they were arrested while doing their journalistic duties, with obligations from the organizations they work for,” she asserted.

Three journalists have been sentenced by military courts since Morsi’s removal.

Sinai-based freelance journalist Mohamed Sabri stood trial in front of a military court during Morsi’s rule, receiving a six-month suspended sentence in November for filming in a military zone. Another Sinai-based journalist, Ahmed Abou Deraa, received a similar prison sentence on charges of publishing false news, while journalist Hatem Aboul Nour of the privately owned Al-Watan newspaper received a one-year prison sentence in October for impersonating a military officer while reporting on a story.