(AFP PHOTO / MAHMOUD BAKKAR)
The editor-in-chief of Al-Dostour’s electronic edition resigned Saturday, citing feelings of guilt after one of the paper’s journalists was shot and killed March 28 while covering clashes between security forces and protesters in Cairo’s Ain Shams district.
Essam Nabawi said 22-year-old Mayada Ashraf’s death is the end of his career at Al-Dostour, according to state-owned Al-Ahram. Ashraf co-founded the electronic edition of the news organisation with Nabawi before she graduated from university in 2013.
The East Cairo Prosecution arrested four men on 1 April, who are suspected to have had a hand in her killing. The Ministry of Interior has denied allegations that they are responsible.
Moved by Ashraf’s death, dozens of field reporters held a protest Friday, condemning the hardships journalists face from security forces and protesters in Egypt.
The Committee to Protect Journalists named Egypt the third deadliest country for journalists in 2013. Six journalists were killed in Egypt in 2013. Ashraf’s death is the first in 2014 and the 10th since the January 2011 revolution that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.
