The Egyptian government slammed “reviews by some Western countries” over the killing of an Egyptian activist and other protestors in pro-democracy protests last week.
Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, a 31-year-old activist, was shot dead during the protests marking the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Her death, captured in graphic images and shared across social networks, was reportedly caused by the firing of guns by Egypt’s security forces and has sparked outrage across the country.
While the Egyptian government initially denied security forces were involved in the death, they have since stated an investigation into the killing has been opened.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry though slammed “Western reports” of the deaths, saying “it is strange how such reviews failed to convey the reality, choosing to turn a blind eye to acts of killing, burning and horror conducted by supporters of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group”.
The statement went on to add,
“Egypt also regrets the fact that the Western reports have failed to clearly condemn acts of violence, horror and terrorism committed against innocent people and security troops across the country.”
“It is the responsibility of the state to firmly counter terrorism through the use of force, the Foreign Ministry stressed, noting that a number of European countries did the same while standing up to recent terrorist acts.”
The New York Times reported a rally has been organised on Thursday to mark the killings, despite the ban on public gatherings. The organisers of the rally said,
“We know the killers… witnesses proved that it was the security forces that fired the bullet at her. But right now they are free thanks to the policy of killings followed nonstop by Egypt since the first days of the revolution.”
“We will not remain silent about what happened… and we say that the Interior Ministry bullet that pierced Shaimaa’s chest here does not scare us away from standing in the same place.”
See more from the New York Times here.