Birdshot in Cairo

A SMALL peaceful protest was all demonstrators could muster near to Tahrir Square to mark the fourth anniversary of Egypt’s revolution, and even that faced lethal force. Before it could reach the hub of Cairo’s bygone uprising, Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, a 32-year-old activist from a new left-wing party, had been fatally shot in the back with birdshot. A few of her colleagues were arrested and released the next day.

Egypt’s police say they had nothing to do with her death. They claim to have only used tear-gas, blaming instead the Muslim Brotherhood for a series of explosions and protests in which 23 other people died the following day.