Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud Mohamed Bakhit
Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud graduated from the Faculty of Commerce, but was passionate about the journalism which is why he joined Al-Taawm. He achieved his dream of establishing his own publishing house and his only daughter, Norhan, 10 at the time, was his life.
On Saturday, January 29, he told his wife, Inas Abdel-Alim, a journalist at Al Masaa newspaper, that he would go to his publishing house, which was located next door to Ministry of the Interior on Lazoughly street. He asked her not to leave the house for any reason because of the demonstrations and that it was not safe for her or their daughter. He hugged his daughter and told her he would be back soon. He parked his car away from his office and was cautious due to the violence that was expected from the protests.
“On this day I felt that Ahmed was behaving strangely,” said his wife Inas, “Take care of our daughter he repeated several times.” She added, “I did not know that this was his last will.”
Shortly after Ahmed arrived at his office, he heard the voices of demonstrations on the street. Looking out the window he started documenting the events with his camera, including the police brutality against the demonstrators. It wasn’t long until a police sniper saw Ahmed, according to witnesses, and targeted him with a bullet that penetrated Ahmed’s right eye, he fell unconscious immediately. His colleagues at the office carried him to the nearby Al-Qasr Al-Aini Hospital where he was placed in intensive care.
Ahmed’s colleagues did not immediately inform his wife, as they didn’t know how critical his condition was until the following day. Ahmed’s brain continued bleeding and the doctors were unable to remove the bullet from his head. He passed away 6 days later, making him the first journalist killed during the events of the January revolution.
His wife speaks of his last days saying he documented the revolution from day one, and expressed his fears for the young revolutionaries—the oppression they will continue to face because of the regime. He recorded the youth chanting slogans of the revolution and send it to his daughter’s phone.
Despite providing a video of the shooting to the authorities that was recorded by a witness, it was not enough for the prosecution to determine who was the killer. Evidence lied in what type of bullet was used, but Ahmed’s family refused to do autopsy.
Two days after his death, Egyptian journalists carried out a symbolic funeral for Ahmad from the headquarters of Press Syndicate and marched to Tahrir Square on his birthday, February 8, 2010.